Google finally has its day of triumph in smartphones market. The latest set of figures on purchases of smartphones released by Nielsen indicate that 2010 is the year of Android OS. It is quite an interning find given that wherever you look, everyone seems to be using iPhone! But the reality is that the share of current sales of smartphones running on Android OS is 50% higher than that of iPhones! The following graph clearly illustrates the trend.
True, iPhone still commands the largest overall share of the market but Android based phones are gaining rapidly in popularity. It’s the battle of “one versus many” – the following graph highlights the trend – relatively stable share of the market held by iPhone but rapidly growing share of Android OS. It indicates to me that all those who meant to buy iPhone have already done so. So, there is not much potential for Apple to find many more new buyers for its phones! The only way for them to make money now is to release new models with increased frequency – to maintain sales revenue by selling “must have” upgrades to existing group of very loyal users. Although it appears that Android OS expansion comes at some expense of BlackBerry, the bulk of new users are most likely those switching from older mobile phone technologies to the latest generation of smartphones. If current trends continue, Android OS based smartphones will soon dominate the market.