Android Leaves Apple and BlackBerry in the Dust, Nielsen Says Google Platform Popular with Youths
Nielsen Research released a report that shows Google’s Android system is now the most popular smartphone platform in the United States, with Apple and BlackBerry having to settle for second and third place.
The report included graphs of smartphone usage in the U.S. and showed that although the top three systems were enjoying a relatively equal share of consumer interest, the Android is now pulling away from the competition.
HTC is at 14 percent, Motorola is at 11 percent, Samsung is at 8 percent, and other Google systems are at 2 percent making a combined total of 39 percent share for the Android, which is 11 percent and 19 percent higher than Apple’s iOS and BlackBerry’s OS respectively.
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Previous reports said Apple and BlackBerry tied at 27 percent, only two behind Android. They were unable to hold Google’s surge onto to the smartphone market, however, and now face the danger of being left far behind their top competitor. BlackBerry is also starting to slip quite a bit behind Apple and may be unable to even challenge for the second spot soon.
Microsoft Windows 7 is holding the No. 4 spot at 9 percent share, but it still has some way to go before it can legitimately challenge Android for the top spot, IT Portal shared. In fact, it dropped one percent in shares since the last report.
Although Google might be leading as far as operating systems go, RIM and Apple, however, remain the top manufacturers. Opinions are divided over which statistic matters more – operating system or manufacturer, but the battle remains heated either way.
Another interesting graph that Nielsen presented was the way smartphone usage is split amongst the various age groups. There was not a big difference for percentages, but the numbers did show that Android picked up the biggest lead amongst the 18 to 24 and 25 to 42 age groups.
