Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share
Erick Schonfeld
Mar 10, 2010

No wonder Apple is suing HTC for patent infringement over its Android phones. In the three months between October and January, Android’s overall share of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. rose 4.3 points to 7.1 percent, according to mobile market share data released by comScore.  Android showed the biggest single gain of any of the top five smartphone platforms.  Apple’s share was virtually flat at 25.2 percent (up 0.3 percent), while RIM’s Blackberries saw a 1.7 percent gain to 43 percent.

Overall, 42.7 million people in the U.S. owned a  smartphone during the period, up 18 percent. So even though Apple’s relative share didn’t go anywhere, it still grew with the market.  But watching RIM and Android phones take share cannot be pleasant for the folks at Cupertino.  The iPhone still rules the mobile Web, but again here Android is catching up fast.  Time to release a new iPhone.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Palm saw drops in their shares.  Windows Mobile was down 4 percent and Palm was down 2.1 percent.

Top Smartphone Platforms

3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2009

Total U.S. Age 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens

Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Oct-09 Jan-10 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
RIM 41.3% 43.0% 1.7
Apple 24.8% 25.1% 0.3
Microsoft 19.7% 15.7% -4.0
Google 2.8% 7.1% 4.3
Palm 7.8% 5.7% -2.1

Photo credit: Flickr/svensonsan.

Advertisement
Advertisement
  • http://indtechie.com/2010/03/11/android-doing-very-well-has-more-than-7-of-the-us-smartphone-market/ Android doing very well – has more than 7% of the US smartphone market « An Indian Techie

    [...] Techcrunch and [...]

  • http://blog.correra.org Chip Correra

    Yet no progress on the iPhone for Verizon front.

  • sona

    I always take a deep breath before checking comments related to patent issues. Simply, cuz it’s frustrating and amusing to see people without the slightest idea of how the patent system work, and start out bashing big corporates and the mostly innocent patent office.
    Patent infringements occur when an existing invention/patent by another that DOES NOT PREDATE the patent who claims infringement and is either identical or an obvious variation to the patented CLAIMS. So, the issue is whether the invention/patent by another with a LATER date is not an obvious variation of the granted patent or not. This is not some big corporate with lots of money stealing KNOWN ideas and crushing the little people.

    The issue of big companies buying out ideas/people and taking credit is a different issue.
    All the details scrutinized: http://bit.ly/apple-htc-lawsuit-examined

  • Dpower

    Being market leader in a competitive space is new ground for the folks in cupertino. The bottom line is that they are going to have to start freeing up their beloved ecosystem. Free GPS and the likes of grooveshark are going to eat them up if they don’t.

  • Nice

    You should include iPod Touch users as well.

  • youngluck

    Android had 3 high profile device releases within that time period. Apple had none. I’m sure that had nothing to do with it.

  • http://www.berryski.com H B

    How in the world RIM grew by 1.7%?

  • http://www.petercowan.com peter cowan

    now factor in that apple products see heavy seasonal fluctuations for quantity sold, and that the christmas season, their heaviest, plus expansion into several new markets internationally was what kept them relatively even in that chart, and it makes even more sense. new year to summer is when they have their biggest lull until the new model is released.

    i am not predicting doom for apple, but if last quarter shows flat growth, that portends negative growth in market share until perhaps summer.

  • Vibhor Chhabra

    It would help if Apple were to do two things:
    1. Make the device available on VZW & T-Mobile.
    2. Have clear unambiguous policies for the App Store.

  • http://None Khalid Shaikh

    Apple’s anticompetitive actions are in plain sight ! Android is more open. We are soon to see great successes on the Android marketplace for mobile apps !

    Another report to the FCC or feds.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1354776467 Kyle Grousis-Henderson

    AT&T only has so many subscribers and those who are inclined to get IPhones already have them. Until they get on another network they are gonna stall while andriod now has a phone or soon will have a phone on every major US carrier. we will see how these shares change as the year progresses and apple gets access to those millions of verizon customers

  • Tom Estes

    Wow! Google has 7.1%!

    Oh wait, that means they have barely over a third of Microsoft’s share, barely over a fourth of iPhone’s share, and just a shade over a seventh of RIM’s share; why again should I care about Android?

    Seriously, I’m amazed how much run Android gets from the geek world considering they are as much of a factor as Palm.

  • http://noticiastech.com/wordpress/?p=30665 » Android sigue avanzando NoticiasTech

    [...] [vía TechCrunch] [...]

  • Jubal Cade

    This flat growth on iphone sales could be worrying apple and leading it to taking desperate measures. No doubt some droid users are beginning to use the word of mouth to campaign for power features on the droid such as genuine multi-tasking and flash support. Coincidentally Android apps are increasing at a higher rate than iphone app store. http://blogs.computerworld.com/15692/android_marketshare_growing_iphone_shrinking_says_quantcast?page=1

    And soon this world will be flooded with cheap android smart phones. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9162638/They_re_here_Cheap_Android_smartphones. Its already beginning, check this out. Apple naturally is going to be very vigorous in this patent case. Keep your eyes wide open, this is the beginning of long legal wrangles involving Google, Apple and Microsoft.

  • Jamie

    Most of it is no great surprises in there. Android has had several massive launches so its large growth is to be expected. Apple has been all quite on the iPhone front so the lack of a massive increase is not suprising. Win Mo is crap and the Palm phones have largely flopped so their decline is in many ways welcome. The only thing that really shocks me is RIM’s growth.

    Who honestly buys those things? I didn’t think business users would have been splurging on new Blackberries over that period. Anyone who wants a consumer phone and buys something off of RIM needs their head testing.

  • albsure

    But who actually makes the most money out of their mobile business? Forget all this market share crap, it’s always been pretty much irrelevant unless your an analyst trying to hustle some shares.

    Apple & RIM totally destroy all of the other companies on the list in actual profits. RIM charge $5-10 dollars for every phone just for the service. Apple have an app store plus you can double the amount of units sold if you factor in the ipod touch.

    Apple and RIM are so far ahead its a joke…

  • http://yoshy.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/links-for-2010-03-10/ links for 2010-03-10 « 個人的な雑記

    [...] Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share (tags: google) [...]

  • jp

    you can blame At&t for the slow growth in iphone.

  • Intosh

    And include laptop users too. -s-

  • Steve

    Let me get right on that, It’s not really a big deal.

    Sent from my iPhone

  • youngluck

    Or the fact that they didn’t release anything in this time period.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=625129032 David Neubauer

    I believe it’s the percentage gain in such a short period

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=625129032 David Neubauer

    I cannot understand how Apple’s business model will succeed now in a mobile world that includes viable alternatives.

  • http://www.plasticsurgeryinhouston.net plasticsurgeryinhouston

    Palm is still around?

  • Joey Y

    Blah blah blah. *yawn*

  • bob e

    Most people I think are just biding their time waiting for Windows Phone 7 Series. I expect to see quite a different landscape once it is released.

  • Jon

    please realize only you and 10 angry developers care about the App Store’s “unambiguous policies”.

  • jonus

    Yeah…I’m sure this is the reason apple is suing HTC for patents infringement. Obviously Erick has never invented anything in his life.

    Here is why the Android has gotten a boost…cause Verizon finally got some good phones… Everyone I know who has a Droid loves it. Verizon didn’t have that type of phone before. So they are now able to offer a great smartphone experience.

  • Vibhor Chhabra

    I am not an app developer and so my reasons to care are different. As a consumer, I do care about more control of the how i personalize/use the device.

    Don’t take me wrong, I like the iPhone but I would like to see Apple in the role of an innovator who is constantly executing new ideas that make it easier for the consumer to do things on the device BUT leave the choice of what/how to the consumer itself.

  • Spam

    Keep in mind that this doesn’t reflect the penetration of Palm’s webOS devices after Verizon started selling them with a ton of heavy promotion. I have little doubt that their market share will show some growth in the subsequent time period.

  • http://vitriolix.com vitriolix

    Why would I care about Apple, Inc’s profits? All I care about is the health of the platform. And the only measure for that is marketshare and growth.

  • Jeremy

    bull.

    In general, people don’t get the iPhone because they are AT&T customers; they are AT&T customers because they got an iPhone.

    Scaling across carrier vendors is going to net incremental gains.

  • Jeremy

    So margins are unimportant?

  • William Palmer

    Who buys RIM, well if those figures are to be believed, nearly twice as many Americans as buy the i-phone, and if you look internationally Nokia sell far more than either of them.

    So much for the myth that Apple have the smart phone market sewn up as has oft been parroted by some on here.

  • Ken Jackson

    And remember this is a three month average ending in Jan. With the new Android devices and increased awareness, I expect that now they’ve probably moved another 4-5%.

    And iPhone staying flat must be worrisome for Apple. They aren’t exactly at RIM numbers yet.

  • Riley

    Android released 3 or more new phones in the last couple months. Probably explains the android uptick.

    Lots of people are waiting for Apple to release a new iphone in June. Apple could pass Rim by Christmas.

    Nexus and Droid sales are still horrible. Nexus did 80k in launch month and analysts now slashing their Google phone targets.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6200015 Scott Werner

    This deals with market % how? You copy and paste this paragraph on every social site?

  • uiughi

    new android device? ahahaha windows phone 7 destroys it moron

  • obioh

    unless youre a ashareholder or fanboy, yes profit doesnt matter

  • masteroftheobvious

    Um, if Android sucked, then those folks would have bought an iPhone, or kept their existing iPhone, and Apple’s market share would have most likely grown more. But Android didn’t suck, so it stole customers away from the other platforms, including the iPhone. I see a lot of Droids out there these days – it’s definitely hurting Apple’s sales.

  • http://www.evanmcgoff.net/2010/03/google-gains-apple-stays-steady/ Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady | evan dot net

    [...] Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share. About Evan McGoffEvan McGoff graduated from the Department of Culture and Communication at New [...]

  • http://www.cooltechzone.com/2010/03/10/android-gains-while-iphone-remains-flat-lined/ Android Gains While iPhone Remains Flat Lined | CoolTechZone.com

    [...] the fact that Android is a drag to develop for apparently, this article from TechCrunch shows us that developers might want to buckle down and deal with any hassles as it’s the [...]

  • iPhone Developer

    I AM a developer and I am very pleased with Apple policy for the AppStore. It benefits both developers and end users because it tries to clean-up the spam out of the AppStore.
    The benefit to the user is that it makes easier for him or her to find the app he or she is looking for.
    An example: one of my apps was released in the entertainment category. It first appeared on the 14th page of the What’s new section. The previous pages were occupied mostly by useless apps and sexy pics crap with names starting with AAA in order to be placed forward in the alphabetical sorting of the apps released the same day.

  • albsure

    Vitrolix: the real issue is how the market share translates in to actual dollars. The value of the whole eco system matters more than any market share amount, especially if your a developer. For example, blackberry has the most smart phone market share, but how many of those users buy apps? Iphone users buy more apps and have a tried and tested way to do it. If I were to develop an app based on market share the blackberry should get me better paid but that isn’t the reality is it? Iphone apps kill blackberry app sales.

    Android will have a growing market share for a while until windows phone 7 come out. Then its game over. I’m not sure googles partners appreciate googles tactics or being embroilled in lawsuits with apple. I see no reason why they wouldn’t switch to wp7 based OS. Its not like there are millions of people who own tons of apps on android devices that just can’t let them go. And who knows whether your app will even play on the next update of android the way google do things. I’m not even sure your app will fit the next screen size google decide to support. Its all a big mess at the moment and think google are going to run out of road soon.

    Android is smart phone platform that seems to have been marketed to feature phone manufacturers who don’t care about cultivating a platform. That’s androids problem right there. And there is no loyalty in the feature phone market. People will move to another device with a different OS without even flinching. Your average joe isn’t going to notice or care about the switch from android to wp7.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1526897028 Lee Lloyd

    So new in fact, that they haven’t yet done it! I know RIM is boring and all, but they are still the market leader. They sell more units than Apple, they are growing faster than Apple, and they have more of the market than Apple. How does that make Apple the market leader?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1526897028 Lee Lloyd

    Why? This is a study of smartphone users. The iPod is not a smartphone.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1526897028 Lee Lloyd

    This is usage data of current subscribers, not sales data. This isn’t about how many phones sold during a specific period, it is about the percentages of subscribers, and the phones they are using. It doesn’t matter if they bought the phone January, or two years ago.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1526897028 Lee Lloyd

    These aren’t SALES figures, they are USAGE figures! Anyone “biding their time” waiting for a new iPhone, assuming they already have an old iPhone, is still counted in these numbers!

    Of the 42.7 million people in the US with a smartphone, 10.7 million of them have an iPhone. It doesn’t matter if that subscriber has owned three iPhones, and plans on buying a fourth when the new one comes out, they are still just one subscriber! Things like how many hot new phones came out the month of the study don’t effect the number of iPhone users, unless some people are getting rid of their iPhone to get one of these hot new phones.

    The point of these figures is that over the course of this study, the percentage of iPhone users relative to the rest of the market stayed flat. That isn’t to say Apple didn’t sell any phones, in fact over the holiday season (which this report covers), Apple sold a TON of iPhones! However, they sold that ton of phones to basically people who already owned older iPhones, not to people new to the iPhone.

    This is the whole problem with that x-million iPhones sold argument. A phone sold does not equal a new user. Plenty of people upgrade their phones, and you can very easily end up in a position like Apple’s, where you have sold tens of millions of phones to only ten million users.

  • http://www.eurodroid.com/2010/03/yet-more-stats-android-market-share-grows-by-4-in-a-month/ YET MORE STATS: Android market share grows by 4% in a month » EURODROID – Google Android phone news

    [...] Last month’s rolling three-month sales data can be found here. Link via TechCrunch. [...]

  • Sriraj

    Put it this way,
    RIM leads by a huge margin, Apple second followed by Microsoft.
    Google and palm’s share is pretty abysmal.

  • Jubal Cade

    albsure: your assumption that android will stop selling once windows 7 launches has no justification. Android provides a developer friendly platform, its cheap for OEMs and its being embraced by contract equipment manufacturers (See Taiwan Networks). Mid this year there will be dozen handsets produced by different manufacturers which will be below $100.00. Now tell me how is windows 7 going to stop that momentum???

  • Mark A

    By selling an attractive range of phones to new and existing customers.

    I don’t think it’s actually any more complex than that.

  • http://koolnews.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/70/ Koolnews's Blog

    [...] Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share (techcrunch.com) [...]

  • http://www.wobudong.com/dao-gou/comscore-2010-%e5%b9%b4-1-%e6%9c%88%e7%be%8e%e5%9b%bd%e6%99%ba%e8%83%bd%e6%89%8b%e6%9c%ba%e5%b8%82%e5%9c%ba%e7%bb%9f%e8%ae%a1%ef%bc%8candroid-%e4%bb%bd%e9%a2%9d%e5%a4%a comScore 2010 年 1 月美国智能手机市场统计,Android 份额大幅提升 | 手机资讯网

    [...] Via TechCrunch [...]

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=594153546 Clint Pee

    The only companies I invest in are Google and all major tobacco company’s and I’ve had 120% gain over the last year.

    The Padrino
    http://www.thepadrino.com

  • http://jp.techcrunch.com/archives/20100310google-apple-palm-smartphone-share/ スマートフォン市場調査:Appleは横ばい、Palmがやや減少となる中、Googleはシェア拡大中

    [...] [原文へ] [...]

  • http://www.101to87.com/?p=400 Google Apps Marketplace launches, Foursquare steps it up a notch, Which smartphone will end up on top? | 101to87

    [...] According to recent research at comScore, Android is quickly gaining popularity in the smartphone market. Stats showed that Android gained 4.3 points, which brings it up to 7.1 percent of people using this new technology. An unhappy Apple remained at a 25.2 percent and Blackberry continued to rise to a 43 percent. Even with all the drama happening between the smartphones, sales continue to rise. Recently, Blackberry users encountered some problems when trying to access their email from their smartphones. According to users, certain data services were unavailable for up to two days this past week. T-mobile did make a statement on Twitter encouraging people to restart their Blackberries in hopes that it would solve the problem. In other news, Apple has brought up a lawsuit regarding patent infringement against HTC, the makers of Android. So, between all the smartphone drama it is still unclear of who will emerge victorious. « previous [...]

  • Kaoru

    Where is Nokia?

  • http://donmcarthur.com/index.php/2010/03/15/tim-bray-throws-his-hat-into-the-android-ring-because-he-hates-the-iphone/ donmcarthur.com – Tim Bray Throws His Hat Into The Android Ring Because He Hates The iPhone

    [...] day,  and Apple sold 8.7 million iPhones last quarter, or about 97,000 a day. Android is making steady gains in market [...]

  • http://gadgetpublic.com/google-android-market-now-serving-30000-apps.html Google: Android Market now serving 30,000 apps | Gadget Public Informations

    [...] partners are now selling over 60,000 Android handsets on a daily basis. With that kind of growth rate, it’s no wonder that the size of the Android Market is quickly increasing in its [...]

  • http://www.allthingsandroid.net/2010/03/16/google-says-there-are-now-30000-apps-in-android-market/ Google Says There Are Now 30,000 Apps In Android Market | All Things Android

    [...] partners are now selling over 60,000 Android handsetson a daily basis. With that kind of growth rate, it’s no wonder that the size of the Android Market is increasing in its slipstream. While [...]

  • http://g3nt00r.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/google-says-there-are-now-30000-apps-in-android-market/ Google Says There Are Now 30,000 Apps In Android Market « G3nt00r's Blog

    [...] partners are now selling over 60,000 Android handsets on a daily basis. With that kind of growth rate, it’s no wonder that the size of the Android Market is increasing in its [...]

  • http://62narration.attorneydonhecker.com/?p=10 Attorney Don Hecker Narration » Blog Archive » US mobile market share – Android growing faster than Apple

    [...] Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share (techcrunch.com) [...]

  • Ilan Ben Menachem

    Most people I think are just biding their time waiting for Windows Phone 7 Series. I expect to see quite a different landscape once it is released.

  • http://www.groovysoup.com/groovymail-goes-mobile/ GroovyMail Goes Mobile | Washington, DC Web Design by GroovySoup

    [...] Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share (techcrunch.com) [...]

  • http://blog.taptu.com/2010/04/06/android-shows-improvement-in-two-key-areas/ Android Shows Improvement In Two Key Areas « Taptu Mobile Search

    [...] comScore’s report shows that in the three month period ending February 2010, 45 million Americans were using smartphones.  Looking at the marketshare changes, Google’s growth outpaced the rest of the smartphone market, gaining 5.2%.  The only other gaining mobile platform was RIM (BlackBerry), where all other mobile platforms lost marketshare. [...]

  • http://onehourcellular.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/15/ OneHour Cellular

    [...] partners are now selling over 60,000 Android handsets on a daily basis. With that kind of growth rate, it’s no wonder that the size of the Android Market is quickly increasing in its [...]

blog comments powered by Disqus
Advertisement
Got a tip? Building a startup? Tell us