New data from Nielsen paints a revealing, if not all that unexpected, picture of the current smartphone market here in the U.S.
While earlier this year we saw Android’s lead over both RIM and Apple’s iOS continue to grow, many (including us) expected that extraordinary growth to curb.
Well that didn’t happen.
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According to this latest data, Android now accounts for an intimidating 40% of the overall smartphone market, versus 37% just in May. As for Apple’s iOS? It saw a mere 1% increase from 27% to 28% over the same period.
RIM still comes in at third, but things aren’t very pretty out there in BlackBerry Land: The company’s share of the smartphone market continues to dwindle, now accounting for only 19% of the market—a 3% decrease since May. We could perhaps see a slight rebound in a few months depending on how new devices like the Bold 9900 do over the coming weeks.
The iPhone, however, has a slight edge over Android in one category: It has a 1% point advantage when it comes to desirability among early adopters. It’s important to point out as well that Apple supports just one type of hardware device (the iPhone), versus Android’s availability across several hardware manufacturers, like Samsung and HTC.
But if Google’s move to bring Motorola’s hardware expertise in-house is any indication, we’ll likely see an absolutely killer Android-powered phone in the not-so-distant future, with streamlined design and software under one roof. It’s a move that could very well assure the company’s current stranglehold on the smartphone market.
The iPhone, however, is speculated to be coming to carriers beyond AT&T and Verizon, like Sprint and possibly T-Mobile, assuring one thing: It’s going to be an interesting next couple of months in the battle for smartphone supremacy.
[via Nielsen Wire]
Chris Gayomali is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @chrigz, on Facebook, or on Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.