Smartphone Sales Way Up Last Quarter, Android on Top
Smartphone Sales Way Up Last Quarter, Android on Top
Posted 01/31/2011 at 3:45pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
3
Comments
Print
According to market research firm Canalys, smartphones had a really big year in 2010. In the last quarter of the year, smartphone shipments increased to 101.2 million units. That's double what they were previously. A big part of this success comes from Google's Android platform. Overall, Android phone sales went up 615% year over year. In Q4 2009, Android only held 8.7% of total sales. Now it's sitting on top with a 32.9% share.
That's not to say the Google rival Apple had it rough. The iPhone 4 was the single most popular handset, and Apple itself managed to best RIM with a 16% share. Nokia's numbers are also of note. The maker of N and E series smartphones has traditionally held the top sop in total shipped units. But now Google has taken that spot.
It seems like a lock that smartphone sales will continue to rise. While not everyone needs them, cheaper smartphones will continue luring new users this year. Do you think Android will contionue its rise, or will Apple short circuit those plans?
More like this
3
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
p47riot
January 31, 2011 at 4:49pm
Apple has a loyal following, which is almost cultish. Grats to Google for putting a dent in their share of the market, thanks to strong community support and some amazing hardware by Motorola, HTC and Samsung. If anything, I think Apple's move to Verizon would be a perfect opportunity for Google to pick up a few more people when they make the switch. It's a bit of a shame that their 4G offerings are being released so long after iPhone is available on Verizon, or they could have absolutely capitalized. Maybe they still can since the CDMA iPhone is still only 3G. It'll be interesting to watch who's on top in a few months...
ddimick
January 31, 2011 at 5:19pm
Also interesting would be to see how many of the Verizon iPhone purchasers were already using an iPhone on AT&T but want to switch carriers, versus those switching from another OS platform.
p47riot
February 01, 2011 at 3:18pm
Yea, it will be. I'm willing to bet the majority of people going iPhone on big red will be iPhone users from AT&T. Again, that cult thing. I was talking to my folks about a week ago (both have iPhone 3's) and they mentioned moving over since the rest of our family is on Verizon. I planted the seed about how they will have to buy new phones anyway, why not look at alternatives? Not that I don't like Apple--they have some decent products--Android has just proven to be the superior platform IMHO.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Sources Say New Windows 7 PC Buyers Will Be Able To Upgrade To Windows 8 Pro For $15 http://t.co/0DZRgfCJ58 min 12 sec ago
- maximumpc: Lenovo Reveals ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, Claims World's Lightest 14-Incher http://t.co/WWaS6u3023 hours 1 min ago
- maximumpc: RT @nvidia: Another announcement coming! Putting the GPU in the cloud #gtc121 day 2 hours ago
