Android, iOS see continued growth in U.S. at cost of RIM

By on Jun 4, 2011 at 11:00 AM
mobile June 4, 2011

On Friday comScore released its latest mobile subscriber market share report, which suggests that both Android and iOS are increasing their U.S. market shares at the cost of RIM’s BlackBerry OS. ComScore surveyed 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers during a three month period ending in April 2011 and found that Android’s U.S. market share jumped 5.2 percentage points to a 34.6% grip of the industry. Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS market share grew a marginal 1.3 percentage points to a 26% share. RIM’s BlackBerry OS share fell from 30.4% in January to 25.7%. Samsung remains the most popular mobile phone manufacturer with a 24.5% share of the market and is followed by LG (20.9%), Motorola (15.6%), Apple (8.3%), and RIM (8.2%). Hit the jump for the full release from comScore.

comScore Reports April 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

RESTON, Va., June 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending April 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.5 percent market share. Google Android led among smartphone platforms with 36.4 percent market share.

OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in April, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 24.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20.9 percent share and Motorola with 15.6 percent share. Apple jumped to the #4 position with 8.3 percent share of mobile subscribers (up 1.3 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 8.2 percent share.

Top Mobile OEMs

3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2011

Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+

Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Jan-11 Apr-11 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Samsung 24.9% 24.5% -0.4
LG 20.8% 20.9% 0.1
Motorola 16.5% 15.6% -0.9
Apple 7.0% 8.3% 1.3
RIM 8.6% 8.2% -0.4

Smartphone Platform Market Share

74.6 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in April 2011, up 13 percent from the three-month period ending in January 2011. Google Android ranked as the top operating system with 36.4 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers, up 5.2 percentage points. Apple also gained share, capturing the #2 position with 26.0 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 25.7 percent share, followed by Microsoft (6.7 percent) and Palm (2.6 percent).

Top Smartphone Platforms

3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2011

Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+

Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Jan-11 Apr-11 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Google 31.2% 36.4% 5.2
Apple 24.7% 26.0% 1.3
RIM 30.4% 25.7% -4.7
Microsoft 8.0% 6.7% -1.3
Palm 3.2% 2.6% -0.6

Mobile Content Usage

In April, 68.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device. Browsers were used by 39.1 percent of subscribers (up 2.1 percentage points), while downloaded applications were used by 37.8 percent (up 2.4 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 2.7 percentage points, representing 28.0 percent of mobile subscribers. Playing games comprised 26.2 percent of the mobile audience (up 2.5 percentage points), while listening to music represented 18.0 percent.

Mobile Content Usage

3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2011

Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+

Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Jan-11 Apr-11 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Sent text message to another phone 68.1% 68.8% 0.7
Used browser 37.0% 39.1% 2.1
Used downloaded apps 35.4% 37.8% 2.4
Accessed social networking site or blog 25.3% 28.0% 2.7
Played Games 23.7% 26.2% 2.5
Listened to music on mobile phone 16.5% 18.0% 1.5
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  • Max

    Hello? RIM? Are you seeing those numbers? Anyone showing that downward graph in those meetings? I think it’s time for a new plan. Drop your old BOLD/CURVE/PEARL monikers completely. Remove them. Get a consumer device people want. Business won’t keep you afloat anymore. The 90′s are done. Drop em all and come out with one phone. Fire everyone who works on the BOLD/CURVE crap and rehire a whole new team and focus on ONE consumer phone. Leave the tech mental midgets in the 90′s, they can’t keep you afloat. They loathe technology and touchscreens and apps. They only care about BBM. They are morons. Leave them as customers back in the 90′s.

    • Anonymous

      While it’s true that BlackBerry pagers first launched in 1999, RIM actually didn’t start producing phones of any kind until 2003. So there were no customers back in “the ’90s.” 

      The Curve line wasn’t even launched until May of 2007—only four years ago—and the first Pearl came out less than a year earlier. The first Bold (the 9000) didn’t come out until close to the end of 2008. What you seem to want to portray as a decades-long period of stagnation actually represents a pretty short time span.

      • numetheus

        A short time span??? From 2003 to 2011 is 8 years. That is a long time when talking about changes in a persons life. It is an eternity when talking about the computer industry. For the mobile phone industry, especially development within the last 5 years, 8 years is an eternity. Look at how fast just the mobile processor is changing. A single core 1ghz processor was succeeded by a dual core one within months. And within months a 1.2ghz dual core has succeeded that. In 2003 nobody knew the trend was all touch capacitive displays, and if you would have told someone that people would be okay without a physical keyboard they would laugh at you. Now it is commonplace. RIMs offering has a feel similar to a 1970′s chevy while everyone else is driving a 2011 modern vehicle with modern features.

        So yes, this short 2 or 3 year time relatively feels like a company that hasn’t innovated for over 10 years and then some … because this mobile industry moves so fast. If you can’t keep up with current trends at the pace the industry is moving, then they completely deserve the low numbers RIM is now getting.

      • Anonymous

        “A short time span??? From 2003 to 2011 is 8 years. That is a long time when talking about changes in a persons life. It is an eternity when talking about the computer industry. For the mobile phone industry, especially development within the last 5 years, 8 years is an eternity.”

        *  *  *

        But again, we’re not talking about 8 years. That’s just how long RIM has been making phones. And those 2003-era phones would barely be recognizable as BlackBerry devices today. As I noted, the phones that most people think of as “BlackBerrys” (the Curve and Bold models) really have only been in mainstream use for 3 years. Really, the only area where RIM as a company lags behind is in touch screens—the Storm was an unmitigated disaster—and they’re about to (theoretically) address that this year.

      • numetheus

        @ophmarketing:disqus And it has been a GREAT productivity device. I have always had one. Either a personal blackberry (a few years ago) or work issued (present). They are showing their age in more than just touch screens. The OS on newer phones lends itself to other productivity software. I can do work on an Android phone where I wouldn’t on BlackBerry because software just doesn’t exist. On the email front, I find newer handle email better. My BlackBerry can access my exchange folders through BES inconveniently. They aren’t properly synced. On my Android device and iPhone, folders are mirrors of what is on exchange. On Blackberry that is usually not the case. This whole reconcile thing is something that should have died a long time ago.

  • http://twitter.com/RDR0b11 David Ruddock

    Uh, why is HTC excluded from the manufacturer list…?

    • Eric

      I know right. Htc has a ton a phones out on all different carriers.

    • Anonymous

      Because HTC sells less phones then RIM and RIM is the last one on the list.

  • BerryKing

    for some reason, analyst only show US numbers! But last time i cheked, Canada was part of North America! The article came out on crackberry saying (from analysts again) RIM still has 42% of market share in Canada! So they are still pretty good in other countries than the US! it seems most analysts think there is only the US in the world where its not the case and in many countries RIM is still the leading and most popular brand!
    Dont get me wrong but RIM is not going anywhere soon but i still believe they need to make major changes to certain department like their software and marketing department cause they just plainly suck! And this comes from a blackberry fan!

    • Gquaglia

      Canadian are retards, what can I tell you.

      • http://www.droiddoes.com/ Norm

        USA USA USA! we killed bin laden, suck our dick world!

      • Anonymous

        FAAAA Q normy!!! We all know u r a closet apple fanboi.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1001483324 Gerry Quaglia

        This could quite possibly be the best post of all times

      • Anonymous

        @Scroat:disqus There’s nothing secret about Norm being an Apple fanboy.

      • http://twitter.com/RJay87 RJay Mirosovsky

        to bad it took you more then 10 years to find one person.

      • http://twitter.com/jj_hh1 J Hamburg

        Wow – not impressed by your performance Norm. Maybe you brought some houseflies down but other then that and some lousy ENG & BGR-comments I guess there’s not much you can brag about.

      • numetheus

        Suck our dick world are you kidding me? The only countries I can say that to are Canada and France.

      • numetheus

        @Rjay: Yep. nobody else had the balls to even look.

      • serpentor

        @numetheus:disqus it wasn’t anyone else’s job to look.

      • shadow

        snap,

      • Anonymous

        This Canadian was fucking your momma in the ass last night. She screamed in extasy and blurted out YES YESSSSS GIVE IT TO ME JUST LIKE OBAMA GIVES IT TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

    • Anonymous

      Globally they’re all still miles behind Nokia, though the Nokia leadership position is failing quickly.

      The smart phone market doesn’t exist. So many people are now buying smart phones there is only one market. The cell phone market. 

      • Anonymous

        Sometimes it may seem that way, especially if you read a lot of tech blogs and whatnot. But in fact, as of the end of 2010, only around 27% of cell phone users in the US were using smart phones. Still a pretty big chunk, but the ‘dumb phone” market is still much much bigger.

      • Anonymous

        The point is that the price of smart phones is now at a point where if you want one, you don’t have to pay more than for a regular cell phone.

        So in that sense there is no unique smart phone market segment because anyone can afford one. The number of smart phones sold has exploded in the last year as Android phones have brought the entry price to zero with a plan. 

        RIMs US sales are therefore no less than earlier; Apples have slowed – which is to be expected; and zero cost and low cost Android phones are hitting their target segment and being purchased in the main by people who previously bought cell phones. There’s a big enough market for all.

      • Anonymous

        The only reason there’s so many dumb phones in the US is because the US is comprised mostly of hillbilly gun toting hicks. Give me a ring once the average American is able to exercise a mental capacity that isn’t akin to an inbred philistine.

      • serpentor

        @br14:disqus Yes you do pay more than a regular cell phone.  Tell me what regular cell phone costs $200 these days. It’s pretty much free on contract.

        An what about the $30 month data plan you don’t have to pay using a regular cell phone?

      • serpentor

        @iHate_Is_Back:disqus It might seem that way because there are so many red states, but look at the voting numbers and you’ll see it’s almost evenly split.

    • numetheus

      This isn’t world events, these are mobile phone marketshare numbers. I live in the US. I could care less what the marketshare is in other countries, much less in *cough* freaking Canada. And no, RIM is not the leading popular brand. The only people I know that have BlackBerry phones are ones that were issued them by work, or ones that have had them for a while. Usually, they are replaced by Android phones. The company I work for has dumped the Blackberry program and has let people make a choice of which smartphone they want. Only one person I know of has chosen to keep their BlackBerry. If they are more popular in Canada, whoopty freaking doo. I don’t care for dumbass Canadians.

      • sirpaul

        What’s wrong with Canadians?

      • numetheus

        There isn’t really wrong with canadians per se. People just like to poke fun at them because out of the larger countries, They are the most useless. And they talk funny. :P

      • sirpaul

        Useless? We provide your wood and maple syrup! ;)

      • serpentor

        Not to mention it’s where we get most our petrol from to run our cars and trucks.

      • serpentor

        Also, we get a lot of our musicians and actors from Canada too.

      • sirpaul

        Like Justin Bieber. You’re welcome, world! jk there are many great Canadian artists..

      • Anonymous

        Me and my Canuck brothers thank you for all the jobs you’ve allowed your Obamanomics to be exported to us. Enjoy the double digit unemployment rate and low land values. It’s now only a matter of time before my Canuck brethren buy all your American land and have all you silly Yankees cleaning our toilets for a dollar a day. Silly yank your stupidity is incredibly laughable.

      • numetheus

        We export all of our businesses to you because your people work for next to nothing. Buying our land? Out of all of the things attributed to Canada, being rich is NOT one of them. LOL. There is a much higher chance of Indians buying land in the US than any French assholes.

      • Anonymous

        Whatsamadda spanky? You all hot and bothered because the world has started wiping its ass with the stars and stripes or are you just pissed because Wal Mart is still making you pay for your own employee benefits. Guess it’s time to take a step back and maybe use all the great experience you attained as a Wal Mart greeter for other more worthwhile careers. Might I suggest company lap dog.

  • Anonymous

    APPLE GOOD!!!! ANDROID BAD!!!!

    • CornerPocket

      fuck off apple fanboi go drink steve jobs’s kool aid

      • Anonymous

        Suk ma —–> (_)_)///////D

      • Anonymous

        looks sorta small there scroat

      • Anonymous

        Was big enuff to make ur momma not shit right for a week tho

      • MicroNix

        Grow up Scroat and quick asking random men for oral sex.  This isn’t a gay porn forum.

      • Anonymous

        SUK MA FAT HAIRY VEINY COCK!!!

      • Anonymous

        Hahaahahha….Dude. I never knew you were gay. Bet you can’t wait for same sex marriages to cum to a state near you.

      • Anonymous

        Faaaa Q.

    • Droid1294

      apple bad, android great and amzing

      • Anonymous

        And free and open. Right, Norm?

    • http://profiles.google.com/tonycerdais Tony Cerda

      Android, Apple, RIM they’re all good. It’s their competition to raise the bar that drives prices down and gives us more features for our money. If one were good and one were bad as you say, we would all be paying through the roof.

      • Anonymous

        Shaddap u commie!

      • http://profiles.google.com/tonycerdais Tony Cerda

        LOL!!!

      • Anonymous

        im sorry to say…$600 is through the roof for a hunk of plastic and metal…

      • http://twitter.com/jj_hh1 J Hamburg

        TONY: Bingo – thats the way I see it too! Competition forces Innovation and brings proces down. And thats what we as consumers want. Apple, Google and RIM – all excellent companies… HTC and MOTO too but not SAMSUCK who try to get their money by copying design, ideas and branding and contribute very very little on innovating. 

    • http://twitter.com/jj_hh1 J Hamburg

      sometimes i think BGR is posting comments like this on their own to keep their PI’s rolling :) cause I cant believe anybody so stupid to post sh.. like that.

      • Anonymous

        FAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Q! pin dick

      • Anonymous

        Welcome to BGR where the brain dead romp at will on the threads.

    • numetheus

      I’m not going to call you an Apple Fanboy like all of the other idiots here. But I will say that both have advantages/disadvantages. I love the iPhone but ruck my Inspire 4G Android phone now … and have had one since just after it released here in the US. I love my Android phone and find it a lot more superior in the OS department. As a phone it kills the iPhone. And when I say kills … it demolishes it. turns it to dust. BUT … I feel iPhone apps are a lot better, ESPECIALLY if you like to game on it. I really dislike the lack of push support in most apps. On Android, the more you have running to notify you of changes, the more battery is drained because it has to use the radio constantly. Common Android tip is to limit the number of apps that sync to get awesome battery life. I never had to do this with iPhone because the apps don’t run and the only time they use the radio is when the push server tells your phone something happened.

      Would I switch from Android to iPhone? I have considered it … but based on the other advantages I won’t. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses. Only these idiots on here will disregard all of that and call you a fanboi drinking steves kool-aid because you happen to like one of their products. 

      And to all of you true Android Fanboys … Android is not the superior end all be all mobile OS. And to your iPhone fanboys … iPhone is not the superior end all be all mobile OS.

      • Anonymous

        What’s it like to have sipped kool aid from both jugs?

      • numetheus

        You sir … are king idiot.

      • Anonymous

        An you sir look like what I shit into the toilet after I ate a bad taco.

  • http://twitter.com/drudometkin David R.

    I know this isn’t popular around here, but I think RIM will have a comeback later this year.  When they launch the bold touch and other new phones I think they will at least stop the subscriber bleeding, and if things go well there might be an uptick.

    • Gquaglia

      Hahahahahaha, you can’t really believe that, can you?  RIM is deader then Kelsea’s nuts right now.

    • Anonymous

      RIM needs to find a new business model, not everyone likes a small keyboard.
      Maybe using an all-touchscreen phone with no keyboard…
      a LANDSCAPE hardware qwerty keyboard
      2 of the best-selling phones of the past 2 years have had one or both of these (Iphone, OG droid)

    • http://twitter.com/jj_hh1 J Hamburg

      I’m highly doubtful right now but I would be happy if they can make it!! My BB8800 was an awesome phone and I kicked my Communicator (3rd gen was terrible) for it. But they stopped on that level and lost their drive around that time. Lets hope they get back there!

    • Anonymous

      I’m hopeful that this is true. If it can maintain the same level of battery life that RIM is famous for, the Bold Touch SEEMS like it could be the dream device. It’s certainly next on my wish list. All they’ve got to do now is actually release the damned thing.

  • Gquaglia

    The RIM “death spiral” continues. 

  • http://www.droiddoes.com/ Norm

    DROID on top, no surprise. Apple sucks BTW…

    • Anonymous

      Ok let me see, ONE phone is selling better than all your phones combined… Android is terrible because not all the phones have the same version, every phone brand changes it a little and every phone has a totally different look. The “top” android phone has a 5″ screen, who the hell wants that in their pocket??

      • Anonymous

        You just dont get it. Apple fans have average to large penis’s Android fans want a big phone in their pocket because they have plenty of room to spare.

      • Anonymous

        no, we have large phones because we dont wear skinny jeans because we do have large penises.

      • Anonymous

        fandroid=(_)_)//D    Apple fanboy=(_)_)///////////////////D That is all.

      • Anonymous

        Oh I dont know… Why is Apple moving to a bigger screen too?  Hmmmmmmmmmm

      • Anonymous

        The bigger the better. You don’t believe me ask any woman.

      • http://www.briefmobile.com Korey Nicholson

        I guess you forgot that the SGS outsold the iPhone…

      • Anonymous

        Sure it did. In Korea. Who tha fuk cares.

      • Michael Scrip

        – “I guess you forgot that the SGS outsold the iPhone…”

        That’s funny…. last quarter Samsung sold 10 million smartphones.

        Apple?  They sold 18 million iPhones.

        Oops…

        Yes… both the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S II did outsell the iPhone in certain countries during a certain timeframe.

        But… it obviously didn’t help Samsung that much.

        To review… Q1 2011… Apple 18 million… Samsung 10 million.

        That’s a pretty big deficit, no?

      • serpentor

        @michaelscrip:disqus You know, for being a Samsung phone (no cashay of any kind), made of cheap plastic, notorious for not being upgraded, 10 million is pretty damn good.

      • serpentor

        Do you like your cars that way too?

    • Anonymous

      “I’m going to be completely honest for once. Android is a
      half-baked POS OS. But I hate apple so much that I’ve come to love
      DROID”
      .-Norm
      .
      .You damn troll!

  • Anonymous

    Did Mr Wozni ak tell you to write that bullshit? Perhaps BGR readers would be interested in knowing who your “advisers” are.

    RIM’s cell phone market share dropped 0.1%, probably more due to the fact they haven’t released a new phone in a while than anything else.

    And Apples grew all of 1%.

    Android phone manufactures like Samsung and LG are taking market share from…. well from themselves, since their cell phone buyers are now buying smart phones. 

    Poor old Nokia seems to have fallen from its perch way above everyone else, but no doubt they’ll be back.

    If you’re going to make assumptions from statistics at least try to say something remotely accurate.

    Companies like Samsung and LG are going to continue to undercut the market, and it won’t just be Nokia that suffers. Apples ASP will take a huge hit in the next year or two. Just as RIM’s has in the past year or two.

  • WileEConsumer

    These changes are tied to the massive job losses in the US. As more people lose their jobs, they are handing back their employer supplied smart phones and going out on their own to buy their own phones as they search for jobs that are forever gone. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1001483324 Gerry Quaglia

      Even corporate America is moving away from the BB.  Face it, it’s days as a smartphone leader are over.

  • Anonymous

    Thing is.. I keep reading/hearing these “QNX this”,”QNX that” and “QNX ftw” comments all around that it still doesn’t negate the fact that RIM shouldn’t play that newfound strength to their tablet strategy 1st?As much as I criticize Apple half the time, what they nailed right in the nads are the fact that it took them 4 iPhones till they realize the Eureka moment that they can scale iOS’ strong touch UI experience up for an iPad.I don’t have to like iOS per se but Apple did that right like it or not.You get good in the game you’re good at 1st BEFORE you play another.It’s not rocket science.

    Lemons like the BB Pearl and/or Style should die or if RIM are still that bent to have a diversified phone line, just keep the Style’s flip credentials but go a bit “wide aspect” a’la Japanese keitais with current internals.Stop keeping phones that’s just a waste of R&D’s time even if it’s just cents in percentile view.Don’t pull a Nokia when you don’t have to.Just stick with form factors you’re good at.

    On the consumer front it’s a simple dilemma.STOP CHARGING RIDICULOUS COMPETITORS’ LEVEL UNLOCKED RRPs PER UNIT unless if BBs can really stand up to what alternatives can offer in terms of perceived per user’s ROI.It’s almost an ongoing fantasized market where consumer users are assumed as stupid.Get back to Earth please.Corporate/enterprise rarely encounter (or even aware about) the problem due to bulk subsidies obviously.

  • Anonymous

    Android is rocking and rolling dude.

    http://www.privacy-web.no.tc

  • Anonymous

    HTC sells more phones than RIM…

    • Anonymous

      And always has.

      As do Samsung, LG etc. 

      I have no idea why people have this hate on for RIM. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.

      RIM and Apple don’t even compete in the same segment. Neither does Android.

      RIM is still the only valid choice for enterprise – there are ways you can make iPhone more secure but the TCO goes off the chart.

      Apple is the choice of premium consumers.

      And Android manufacturers will take everyone else and have the largest share of the cell phone market. The same manufacturers that along with Nokia have always had the lions share of the market.

  • RP

    This is the tipping point for APPLE – although still growing in mobile share it will not be able to hold lead as Android is taking the world by storm. The open competition in the Android market will do what Windows did to Apple back in the early 90′s 

    • Anonymous

      Ya and where is microsoft now and where is apple now. Your comment is a tipping point.

      • Steve Hillshire

        Microsoft still has the dominating OS genius.  PCs still sell by the bucket loads for all kinds of PC makers and Apple’s desktop market share still sucks after decades.  Your comment = fail

      • Anonymous

        Wow you are dumb as hell. What does Microsoft PC’s have to do with mobile phone share, mobile phones, iOS and android? Maybe you should stick to playing games on pogo. This tech stuff is way to much for you. Do yourself a favor and beat it.

      • http://www.apple.com Ebony & Ivory

        Apple’s desktop is top 3 or 4 in the US. They have like a 90% market share of computers costing over !000. Most PCs sold are low end with razor thin profits. Their PC business is doing better than ever. Their PC on a global scale is growing. Helping an already highly successful business even without their mobile business.

        You BGR commenters fail. Far more knowledgeable people on Endgadget.

      • Anonymous

        Just to add iPads are outselling PC’s as of now. And iOS is based on osx. So bite me.

    • Bringit

      The Android model of  - throw as much as possible as quickly as possible, and give it away for close to nothing – has already led to fragmentation, saturation and substandard quality.  That party has major issues.

  • Italiankid

    Apple not growing as expected even with the help of Verizon!  Ouch!

    Go GOOGLE Go!

    • http://www.apple.com Ebony & Ivory

      They are still growing, but Android’s monster growth defies logic. I have a “facebook friend” that constantly  updates. You’d always see that little Blackberry icon next to her post. More recently there was a hideous “via Android” post. Android sucks. It’s her loss.

      By the way, if you add up iPads + iPhones + iTouches it exceeds Android, for what it’s worth.

      • serpentor

        For what it’s worth, there are no real Android non phone devices until the Galaxy Player, which isn’t even here yet.

        Android 3.0 was still beta when it came out. Wait it 3.1. But ICS is what I’m really waiting for.

  • Anonymous

    I think that the bigger story here is that Microsoft continues their dive… 

    • http://www.apple.com Ebony & Ivory

      Agreed. But wait till Mango they all say.

      • serpentor

        Well, I for one am waiting for Mango. WP7 is the prettiest OS out there.

  • http://apple.com Yes_iHave_an_iPhone

    iPhone is the best! Easy.

  • Anonymous

    bye RIM… don’t let the door hit you in the ass…

    • http://www.apple.com Ebony & Ivory

      That is the wrong attitude. The more competition the better for consumers.

      • Anonymous

        Competition that doesn’t bring anything new or innovative to the market will not be competition for long. 

  • http://www.sk1wbw.wordpress.com Wayne Williams

    It’s all about the apps, dude.  One reason why I quit Windows Phone 7 and went back to my third iPhone.  Same thing with Blackberry.  Same thing with Android.  It’s all about the apps.  The shittiest Twitter app on the iOS platform is a hundred times better than the best one on WP7.  Same with the other OSs.

    • Anonymous

      Absolutely garbage.

      How many apps do you have on your phone? How many are not games? And finally how many of the 500,000 iPhone apps have you actually checked out. 

      Apple invented the idea of apps as a market differentiator for a beautiful but technically limited product. They did their usual great marketing job.

      There are certain key apps that are essential, but other than that how many do you really need. The main app I use daily is Google Maps and I can get on any platform. Other than that pretty well every phone already comes with the stuff I need. And there are great Twitter apps for every platform.

      • http://www.sk1wbw.wordpress.com Wayne Williams

        Speaking of Twitter apps, I probably own 40 for the iOS platform.  And trust me, the worst one is better than the best one on WP7.  I bought about 4 for it and they all sucked.

      • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

        Why do you have 40 twitter apps?

      • Anonymous

        Because at least 39 of them are dross. And you can extrapolate that factor across the rest of iOS apps. But apparently they’re still better than WP7?

        You should have bought a BlackBerry. No other phone is as good at messaging.

      • Michael Scrip

        Remember when Windows was “better” than the Mac because of all the programs that were available for Windows?

      • sirpaul

        It still is.

    • sirpaul

      100% true, at least in my case. The absolute only case I am not ditching my POS iPhone is because of the apps. I mean, calling it a POS is a bit too much – it’s alright – but still not anywhere near as good UI and hardware-wise as other phones. With the iPhone, there really is an app for just about everything!

  • Anonymous

    Android = Winning

    • http://www.apple.com Ebony & Ivory

      Ebony & Ivory hated this.

  • belg

    I am a BB user in Belgium.

    This place has been classic Nokia country with Nokia having 65+ percent of the market till 2-2.5 years ago.

    I got my first BB (8300) exactly 3 years ago. At the time I didn’t know anyone else with a BB.

    These days everyone carries blackberries. In the business community blackberry is ubiquitous. But even among the young and the ‘hip’ blackberry is quite fashionable. I probably see 1 iPhone for every 10 BBs.

    So I don’t know what’s going on in the US but here BB is on the up. I was also in Switzerland a few weeks ago and was surprised to note the amount of BBs seen all over.

    Btw, here in Belgium there’s no real subsidizing by carriers (it was illegal until a year ago). So all BBs are fully paid for.

    • Juanl

      I live in Spain and bb is also everywhere . It’s very popular among teenagers and also in the 40+ people which are replacing their nokias.
      Here bb it is almost fully subsidized by carriers and the bb data plans are really cheap.
      I’ve read many times in BGR that they are losing month after month us market share but i think it would be interesting to know how the smartphone global market share is at the moment.

      • Anonymous

        RIMs global market share for cell phones is only 3.5%. Apples is a little less according to IDC. Apple continues to grow overall market share and the iPad will have helped their mobile device share.

        The biggest manufacturer is still Nokia with 32.6% market share, but that number has fallen dramatically over the past few years.

        You can’t really compare smart phone market share because the smart phone market is doubling every year as manufacturers reduce ASP to try to sustain revenue.

        The real story is Android. Effectively what is happening is that big players like Samsung (20.2%) and LG (8.5%) are selling Android devices at such low ASP’s that they’re converting cell phone owners to smart phone owners.

        Oddly enough the US has less smart phone users than most European countries for which stats are available.

      • Michael Scrip

        BBM is not a compelling app for most people I know.

        My BBM contact list is getting shorter and shorter by the day.

        All my friends are switching to Androids and iPhones… :(

      • serpentor

        @michaelscrip:disqus live profile, man

    • Anonymous

      I guess this is a case where the Euro’s are behind the Yanks in a trend. I don’t know what’s going on with y’all besides crappy phones and E. Coli.

  • http://gadgetsarena.in/category/android/ ZAM

    Yeah its not a short time span..8 years it a considerable growth.

  • stranger

    A little misleading.  When RIM dominated smart phones, maybe 5% (wild guess) of the population had smartphones.  Now 70% (wild guess) have them. 

    RIM is selling more phones (even in this country) than they ever have, it’s just a smaller percentage of a larger pie.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JNKVTT7PJMXPYP2GVCIERBQQCU Andrew

      It’s not misleading.  Sure RIM’s market share is smaller now but the market is larger.  But that doesn’t change the numbers.  So it’s not misleading.  You just want people to footnote everything so RIM doesn’t look bad. You know what else would be misleading? How many of RIM sales are free devices? But I’m sure you don’t care about that though.

  • Applesucksfatties

    I’m a BB user.. but this really isn’t shocking news considering they haven’t released a new handset in 6-9 months.  C’mon carriers and RIM execs… get off your thumbs and get some new phones out into the market..  I’m certainly waiting, and have been for awhile, for the Bold 9900 to drop…  MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!

  • Anonymous

    its nicer if they show us more information than just this year and last year… i’d be interested to see if text messaging, with the introduction of things like whatsapp, is still growing a lot or if its growth is slowing down?

  • http://twitter.com/Translatethis27 Translatethis27

    WP7 is BIG BIG FAIL.

    Sells like KIN….

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