“Nielsen’s third quarter survey of mobile users seemed to reaffirm what many have been saying; Android continues to grab more smartphone market share, with 43% U.S. share compared to iPhone’s 28%. This morning, I thought a little bit more about Nielsen’s data and something just didn’t seem right,” Sammy the Walrus IV writes for AAPL Orchard.
“Since I follow AT&T’s and Verizon’s quarterly earnings, I recalled how AT&T’s most recent report indicated iPhone accounted for approximately 60% of AT&T’s smartphone sales,” SWIV writes. “How was it possible that iPhone has less than 30% overall smartphone share in the U.S., while iPhone share at AT&T (the carrier with the highest smartphone penetration rate) is over 60%? After collecting a few more data points and running with conservative assumptions, I estimate that iPhone accounted for close to 40% of U.S. smartphones sold during 3Q11.”
SWIV writes, “During 3Q11, AT&T sold 4.8 million smartphones, of which 2.7 million were iPhones (56%). Meanwhile, Verizon sold 5.6 million smartphones, of which 2 million where iPhones (36%). Combined, iPhone accounted for 45% of smartphones sold at AT&T and Verizon during 3Q… My primary theory for why Nielsen’s market share data is wrong, or at least misleading, is that some OEMs have altered Android to such a degree that many “Android-powered” phones are actually better classified as feature phones – great for text messaging, but lacking mobile browsers or apps. Nielsen is then unable to distinguish Android-powered feature phones from smartphones and simply assumes any Android-powered phone must be a smartphone.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Nick P.” for the heads up.]