14 DAY TRIAL // The battle on the smartphone segment seems to be heating up at least in the US market, with iPhone named the most desirable device among smartphone users, while the Android handsets moving closer to it in customer's preferences.
According to a recent survey from Nielsen, while the most popular smartphones remain the Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry, the most desired mobile operating systems are Apple’s iOS and Google's Android platforms.
The survey was based on answers provided by users who planned the purchase of a new smartphone, regardless their current device (smartphone or feature phone).
Of course, the iPhone still has the top spot in user's preferences, the report shows, but the Android platform is said to be nearing fast from behind. October 2010 data from The Nielsen Company shows that 29.7 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers use a smartphone at the moment.
“The most popular smartphones are the Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry, which are caught in a statistical dead heat with 27 percent of smartphone market share in the U.S. Twenty-two percent of smartphone owners have devices with the Android operating system,” Nielsen states.
“When mobile users who planned to upgrade to a smartphone in the next year were asked about their next phone, Apple’s iOS and Android were tied for “most desired” operating system,” the company continues.
According to the survey, 35 percent of smartphone users said they would prefer the Apple iPhone over any other mobile device, while 28 percent of them showed increased preference for devices running under the Android platform.
Likely smartphone upgraders showed an increased preference for these two operating systems, with Apple's iOS named the top desirable solution for users age 55+ , 18 to 24, and 25 to 34.
At the same time, the report unveiled the fact that women are more likely to wand an iPhone as their next handset, while males preferring Android.
“Feature phone owners planning to get a smartphone are less likely to have made up their mind about the OS they will choose: 25 percent were “not sure” what their next desired OS might be compared to 13 percent of smartphone owners,” the Nielsen report states.
“Those over 55 were markedly less certain than younger mobile users, with 27.8 saying they weren’t sure what kind of device they wanted next, compared to 12.2 percent of those 18 to 24,” the report concludes.
