Android Surpasses iPhone in U.S. Consumer Market Share

Google’s Android operating system continues to demonstrate its striking momentum as it outsold Apple’s iPhone during the first quarter of 2010, making it the second most popular OS among U.S. smartphone consumers, the NPD Group reported.

According to the research firm, smartphones running Android OS accounted for 28 percent of total sales in the last quarter, an 8 percent increase from Q4 2009. This put Android on the No. 2 position ahead of Apple’s iPhone OS X, which made up 21 percent of all smartphone shipments. Although Android lagged behind Research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS, which remained in the top spot with 36 percent, it is the only smartphone OS that has shown a positive trend in the past three months.

Android’s success can be attributed to the availability of its handsets on all major U.S. networks, according to NPD. Verizon Wireless, in particular, played a great role in pushing Android’s sales. The carrier has not only been putting considerable effort behind promoting the operating system to their customers, but has also expanded the buy-one-get-one-free promotion beyond BlackBerry devices to include all of their smartphone offerings, which brought strong demand for Android phones such as Motorola Droid and HTC DROID ERIS.

The research firm also noted that in terms of smartphone sales, AT&T held the top spot by accounting for nearly a third (32 percent) in the first quarter. However, Verizon is catching up with the Big Blue with 30 percent, thanks to the strong performance of BlackBerry Curve and the two mentioned Android phones. T-Mobile and Sprint trailed behind with 17 percent and 15 percent respectively.

"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," said Ross Rubin, NPD’s executive director of industry analysis.

Considering the reasons behind Android’s rapid surge, Apple might want to end their exclusive deal with AT&T and expand the carrier base for the iPhone as soon as possible, so as to grab a larger slice of the smartphone market.

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