Has Android’s Lead over Apple Stopped Growing?

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In Smartphone War Land, it appears that Android’s lead over Apple’s iOS has, at least for now, slowed down, as pointed out in some newly sliced-up Nielsen data from our friends at CNN money.

According to the latest dataset, Google’s mobile operating system still leads the way with 37% of the overall market share for smartphones, with iOS coming in second at 26%, and RIM’s BlackBerry OS at third with 22%.

Android has been hovering within one percent of its current mark since February of this year, suggesting that its once incredible growth (skyrocketing from a lowly 15% market share back in June 2010) may finally be starting to taper off. Apple’s iOS – even with the addition of Verizon as a carrier – has been hovering around 26% for the past year or so.

PC World points out that a major part of Google’s growth can be attributed to the dozens of Android-powered smartphones being pushed by major carriers like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. However, the operating system hasn’t been without its share of hiccups as even today, reports of malware-infected apps continue to pop up.

Apple’s impending announcement of iCloud at WWDC later this week makes it look less and less likely that Apple will be announcing this year’s iteration of the iPhone in accordance with their typical June schedule, which may prove detrimental in overall sales. Though experts have predicted that the launch of the white iPhone may have provided Apple with a nice boost, the actual impact remains to be seen.

Team Android is hardly sitting idle, however, as perhaps best indicated by the new Google Wallet initiative (which we’ve covered extensively in primers here and here), that aims to establish the platform as indispensable.

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