BlackBerry has become the Bluto Blutarsky of the American smartphone market because, as Dean Wormer once said to Bluto, its market share is now “zero… point… zero.” Consumer Intelligence Research Partners on Thursday came out with its latest numbers on mobile market share in the United States and found that BlackBerry devices accounted for 0% of all smartphone activations in the fourth quarter of 2013, which isn’t too surprising considering that the company spent a good chunk of the quarter with a “For Sale” sign hung around its neck. In its last earnings report, BlackBerry said it only sold 1.9 million total smartphones on the quarter and most of those were BlackBerry 7 devices targeted toward emerging markets, so BlackBerry posting a 0% market share in the U.S. over that period is well within the realm of possibility. BlackBerry launched BlackBerry 10 exactly one year ago in the hopes that the new platform would revive its flagging handset sales. Needless to say, it didn’t. CIRP’s press release follows below.
iOS Edges Android for Operating System Share Apple iOS Customers Have Higher Carrier Bills
CHICAGO, IL – January 29, 2014 – Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, LLC (CIRP) today released results of its research on mobile phone operating systems for the calendar quarter that ended December 31, 2013. This analysis features findings about consumer trends in mobile phone operating systems from October-December 2013.
CIRP finds that Apple iOS had a slightly greater share of mobile phone operating systems than Google Android. CIRP bases its findings on its survey of US subjects that activated a new or used mobile phone in October-December 2013.
Apple iOS had 48% of mobile phone operating systems, while Android had 46% (see chart). Windows, Blackberry, and non-smartphones each accounted for less than 3% of activations in this sample.
“Apple clearly benefitted from launch of the iPhone 5S and 5C just a couple weeks before the quarter started,” said Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “It increased its share considerably over the previous quarter, when it had only 34% of activations.”
CIRP also analyzed spending patterns by operating system. On that basis, Apple iOS customers continue spending more than Android buyers.
“iOS customers have higher carrier bills, spending more on voice, texts, and data than Android buyers,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “Over half of iOS buyers spend over $100 per month, compared to one-third of Android customers. And, about one quarter of Android customers spend under $50 per month, compared to only 7% of iOS buyers.”
Further information on CIRP, which provides securities research to the investment community using advanced consumer market research strategies, methods, and techniques, is at http://www.cirpllc.com.
