For Q3 of 2011 Android phones spoke for 43.4% of the smartphone market says the latest stats from Gartner.
Showing a massive growth of 26.2% over the same quarter last year (Where Android devices spoke for 17.2% of the market) Android has come on strong in the last 6 months. In stark contrast to Androids obvious and nearest competitor, the iPhone which has sold a very respectable 18.2% of the market share this quarter compared to it’s 14.2% in the same quarter last year. With official figures like this emerging, showing that Android is no longer the buck toothed, short bus riding little cousin of iOS it’s little wonder that Apple are filing so many injunctions on Samsung’s devices. It’s not about slowing Android down, they’re trying to save market share…
Apple are being challenged in a market that is their bread and butter!
Samsung isn’t the only manufacturer utilizing the Android OS of course, but they’re undoubtedly the biggest threat at this time because they are in the mobile phone: SGS2 and the tablet: 10.1 space which directly opposes the primary Apple market. What’s even more surprising about Gartner’s statistical analysis of the market trends is that they’re now predicting a 49% market share for Android in 2012 and the iOS market share will actually decrease due to their want to maintain margin rather than market share. I find it amazing that in a competitive field like the current smartphone market, that Apple would be so foolish when there are already droves of users switching to Android and very few returning when contracts expire.
And all of this coming out the day Apple announce the iPhone 4S which even to some iFan’s was a huge disappointment. Despite the hype around the announcement, the specs of the 4S show that Apple are playing catch up with Android. Buzz did this great post which shows side by side that the iPhone 4S is nothing special in today’s smartphone market.
Personally, I think all they’ve done is leave the door wide open for the Nexus Prime to blow away everyone.
The true test of who’s king the smartphone world will be after the Christmas and New Years rush and the new iPhone is out.
