The reality is, there isn’t one set of numbers for who the dominant mobile OS player is. Depending on which region you’re looking at, whether you’re looking at devices sold or devices in use (or even devices accessing the web), and whether you’re simply calculating smartphones or are looking at all phones, you’ll wind up with very different numbers. However, for the first time, one of these reports is showing Android at the very top of the mountain – above both the RIM Blackberry OS and Apple’s iOS.
This comes through breaking what was called a “statistical tie” between the three companies, where no one group was clearly ahead. Now Android has grown by just over two percent, reaching 29% in January and leading analysts to anticipate a 30% share one February reports are in.
For Android, this dominance comes at the expense of actual device ownership. While both Research In Motion and Apple own their respective devices and are making the bulk of the income off of the release of each device, Android has left its OS open and available to all. This provides end-users with a large selection of different phones, but diminishes the profit-per-device that Google receives. The open nature of the platform also creates its own security issues and can frustrate developers, who cannot readily create apps for all available Android devices.
As iPhone sales reach their peak, these numbers may shift. However, opposed to what was anticipated, the iPhone sales on Verizon seem to primarily be cannibalizing other iPhone and non-Android smartphone users.
[via eWeek]
