14 DAY TRIAL // The Android mobile operating system managed to take the crown from RIM's BlackBerry OS on the US smartphone market. According to NPD’s latest wireless market research, Google's Android operating system was present on 33 percent of all smartphones sold in the United States market during the second quarter of the ongoing year.
It seems that the Android platform is slowly conquering the hearts of mobile phone users in the US. While the platform accounted for 33 percent of the smartphones sold in the country in Q2, RIM's BlackBerry OS came in second, with 28 percent market share, followed by Apple with 22 percent. Android is rising fast, and is expected to continue momentum for at least a few quarters more.
“For the second consecutive quarter, Android handsets have shown strong but slowing sell-through market share gains among U.S. consumers,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. “While the Google-developed OS took market share from RIM, Apple’s iOS saw a small gain this quarter on the strength of the iPhone 4 launch.”
As for the Android-based devices that managed to climb up to top 5 in the US market, the U.S. consumer purchases of mobile phones in Q2 show that DROID by Motorola was a leader, followed by four HTC devices, including the DROID Incredible, the EVO 4G, the Hero and the DROID Eris, in this order.
“Blackberry 6 will soon offer features that have been popular in recently launched Android handsets, such as support for capacitive touchscreens and a WebKit-based browser. However, the Blackberry Torch lacks the large screen allure that has characterized the best selling Android devices at its price point, including the Droid Incredible and EVO 4G,” Rubin continued.
As for carrier dominance on the US market, NPD’s Mobile Phone Track shows that Verizon Wireless remained the leader for the third consecutive quarter, with 33 percent of the units sold during the second quarter of the year, followed by AT&T with 25 percent, Sprint with 12 percent and T-Mobile with 11 percent.