This should not come as a surprise to anyone, considering the number of reports we have seen over the last couple of weeks, but not only has Android outstripped iOS here in the US, it has surpassed it world-wide as well.
In a report examining second quarter of 2010 mobile device sales, research firm Gartner found that sales of mobile devices have increased by nearly 14% since the same period in 2009, with smartphone sales accounting for 19% of worldwide devices sales. According to the report, certain factors such as components shortages restricted smartphone sales, but overall sales increased by 50%, with Android making the biggest gains among smartphone platforms. 61.6 million smartphones were sold in the second quarter of 2010, as compared to just over 40 million in 2009, with the biggest change coming in Operating Systems. Android overtook Apple’s iOS for the number three spot worldwide and passed Research In Motion’s operating system to take the number one spot in the U.S.
Worldwide Mobile Device Sales
In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Android expanded rapidly in the second quarter of 2010, overtaking Apple’s iPhone OS to become the third-most-popular OS in the world (see Table 2). In the U.S, it also overtook RIM’s OS to become the No. 1 smartphone OS in this region. “A non-exclusive strategy that produces products selling across many communication service providers (CSPs), and the backing of so many device manufacturers, which are bringing more attractive devices to market at several different price points, were among the factors that yielded its growth this quarter,” said Ms. Milanesi.
It is interesting to note that Gartner points out that both iOS and Android would have experienced even great growth and market penetration if not for hardware constraints. Seems like there is a LOT of pent up demand for smartphone with large, beautiful screens!
While new product introductions from Apple, HTC and Motorola, along with the drop in ASPs, drove strong sales of smartphones, shortages of components, such as active matrix organic LED (AMOLED) displays impaired sales volumes of some of the more popular new smartphones.
HTC Moves Up in World Ranking
Over the last few years, HTC was usually the man behind the curtains, producing the devices for others to rebrand and sale. However, that has now significantly changed. Owning 4 of the top 5 Android devices available in the world today has propelled HTC from backroom obscurity to the number 8 mobile device manufacturer worldwide, just behind Apple, with a 2.7% share to Apple’s 2.8%. Motorola bests them both, but a huge percentage of their devices are not smartphones. Considering that they nearly faded away, it can be seen that Android has been very good to them indeed.
The second quarter also saw some movement in the top 10 mobile device manufacturer rankings (see Table 1). HTC made its debut in the top 10 worldwide ranking, holding the No. 8 position with 139.1 percent growth year-on-year. This reflects the popularity of its Android portfolio but also a more aggressive branding strategy compared to the same period in 2009. “Crucially, as we predicted, the sudden growth in media tablets, such as the Apple iPad, did not appear to hold back smartphone sales. We believe that most tablet users still feel the need for a truly pocketable, yet highly capable, device for those situations when it’s inconvenient to carry a device with a larger form factor,” said Ms. Milanesi.