When Android first entered the market against the already established iPhone and RIM devices, their presence seemed laughable. The Google name brought some appeal and the smartphone lineup had a couple clever features, but that didn’t make much of a dent at first. Well, times have certainly changed. With dozens of current devices and more being introduced with immense frequency, Android has managed to catch up to — and then stampede right past — Apple in terms of total subscribers.
According to a report on Tech Crunch, which cites facts and figures from a comScore report, Android first caught up to Apple in November of 2010. The U.S. subscription figures showed that about 61.5 million people have a smartphone plan, and that about a quarter of those are iPhone users. Google sneaked past iPhone by just one percent in November, but what makes this more important is the rate of growth.
Only three months prior, when Apple had about 24% of the market share, Google had less than 20%. The stunning comparative growth rates give an ominous forecast for Apple. Far more ominous a report, however, is that for RIM, the “original smartphone.” While still technically in the lead because of its legacy position, RIM devices saw a 4% decrease in market share in the same three month period (dropping them to about 30% of market share). When compared with the study at the beginning of 2010, when RIM had 43%, Apple still had about a quarter, and Google had only 7% of market share, the newest report creates an even more clear image.
When the Apple/Android battles began, Android phones were the clear underdog, and consumers and analysts alike were skeptical of Google’s chances. It seems almost like a Cinderella story that the semi-open OS has come so far, so quickly. But then again, they are Google.
