Joe Regan reports for Chitika Insights, “in March, we posted a study breaking down Android smartphone traffic share by cell phone provider, and the results were unsurprising; Verizon comprised a majority share of Android smartphones, AT&T commanded a very small market share.”
Android smartphone share, March 2011:
Verizon – 51.418%
Sprint – 25.345%
AT&T/T-Mobile – 20.344%
MetroPCS – 1.295%
US Cellular – 0.894%
Virgin – 0.703%
Regan reports, “This time around, our results were quite different:”
“While Verizon still has four of the top five Android smartphones (Droid X, HTC Droid Incredible, Samsung Fascinate, Droid), its market share is clearly down. In contrast, AT&T’s share of the Android phone market is increasing, with devices such at the HTC Inspire gaining significant popularity among smartphone users. Both Sprint and T-Mobile remain relatively stable,” Regan reports. “Verizon’s share of iPhone traffic continues to increase, but it seems that Verizon is gaining market share in Apple’s prominent smartphone at the expense of its other, Android-running devices.”
Source: Chitika Insights
[Attribution: AppleInsider. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jax44” for the heads up.]
Come on Steve, let T-Mobile in on the iPhone fun this fall; please.
…and Sprint.
Only when hell freezes over…:)
(just kidding with ya)
This is all rather relative, as it only shows, within the Android world, how was the platform distributed among carriers before and after Verizon iPhone. It doesn’t require major foresight (or clairvoyance) to predict that Verizon’s share of Android would noticeably drop after iPhone introduction. It isn’t exactly news to anyone that the iPhone is by far the most coveted mobile device, so it was obvious that, as soon as it becomes available on some carrier, the platform that previously dominated the carrier’s sales would take second place.
We all know that, ever since the number portability became the law in America, there was very little carrier loyalty. With the exception of some marginal market segments, where certain carriers are the only choice by default (due to their coverage), very few people in America are so loyal to their carrier that they would forgo the iPhone (and settle for Android) just to stay on the same network. Still, those that are compelled to such loyalty (due to coverage/service, etc) represent large enough a number to noticeably shift numbers.
I have to make mention that I myself have been with T-Mobile for 6.5 years. I was part of the initial pre-orders for the G1 when it went up for pre-sale in the afternoon on Sept 23rd 2008. I had seen the iPhone, I even had played with one. I now have owned an iPod touch 4 since last fall actually. Had an iPod touch 2 in April of 09. I’ve also had many PocketPC/Windows Mobile devices over the years. I even had a Blackberry Bold 9700 for a while. In the end, my Motorola Xoom wifi and T-Mobile G2 are my primary devices. I only use the iPod once a week or so, to play a game that isn’t available on Android (Call of Duty’s Zombies, which I play on Xbox 360 all the time with my friends). Most of the time, everything I want to do can be done on my Xoom, from watching videos on YouTube, playing Flash content, be it games or non-YouTube/non-HTML5/non-H.264 videos. My phone has a slide-out keyboard, which I prefer over all-touch based input like my HD7 Windows Phone, which I keep as a backup, waiting for Mango to come out for it. In the end, the point I want to make is that I wouldn’t leave T-Mobile for the iPhone when it was on AT&T because I don’t like AT&T’s customer service, nor do I like their rate plans or data plans. I get unlimited text for $10/mo, unlimited minutes for $50/mo, and a grandfathered 10GB of unthrottled data, unlimited throttled after, for $20/mo, as well as I’m grandfathered in on free tethering somehow, because I’ve never had it cut off or the $15 charge on my bill. Most of my plan’s features were “long-term customer” offers I’ve had for 2 years. Some people really are loyal to their carriers, as I have been for years. I may very well head to Sprint if AT&T completes the T-Mobile purchase, because they are the only other carrier where I can get an unlimited amount of usage without ridiculous prices. Sure, they’re not GSM, which I would prefer, but I’m not going to be part of AT&T. Screw them… Nor would I want Verizon, they’re expensive as well. And even if the iPhone came to T-Mobile, I still wouldn’t switch. I hate iTunes, I use Google Music beta for all my music, and I really have a preference for the “nerdvana” that is Android. I can tweak things as I see fit. So it isn’t just people that “have” to deal with Android, some really do prefer it over the iOS interface. And I am one of those people. I have plenty of experience with them, Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile 5, 6, 6.5 and Blackberry OS 5. I’m watching WP7 closely, because it has potential. We shall see where this all goes. But the most important thing is first Availability. Then comes the ability to operate “tether-free” (the computer ball’n’chain). My most important feature I want is an SD card slot. My Xoom and G2 have them, and I can move my micro SD back and forth between them. That’s important to me. The USB host mode on Android 3.2 on the Xoom has been invaluable for accessing my G2’s files on-the-go with a USB OTG adapter. So there are reasons for each operating system to do each thing. And it’s up to the manufacturers to shop their devices to each carrier, and the customers need to decide which is more important, the device, or their rate plans/services provided by their carrier of choice. For me, I happen to be very happy with my situation, because I can easily move to a Google Nexus device in the fall when the next one is released, and get it discounted on a 2 yr agreement with either Sprint or T-Mobile.
eg: The only reason people buy android phones is that they can’t get an iPhone.
MDN,
Data Fail!!!
Was it you or was it Chitika, presenting half the data as a table and half as a graph? That makes for difficulties in drawing conclusions. OK, so Android on Verizon was down as a percent of total. So who is up? From your convoluted data, I think it is “other”. However, you could have made it easier to determine.