iPhone market share outpaces Android

Android smartphones are great in their own right. The capacitance-based touchscreens used in Android devices make for some down-right enjoyable finger-flicks. The speedy Android OS is fairly intuitive (not as intuitive as a certain fruit company’s wares, but still well intuitive) and packs a decent set of features. Unfortunately, the iPhone has taken hold of the burgeoning smartphone market in a way that up-and-coming smartphone platforms may have trouble repeating.

A new “Market Share” report from Net Applications points to the Android platforms flagging market share numbers following the platform’s launch late last year. The Android platform saw its market share growing at the same rate as the iPhone in its post-launch months. The first five months of sales of the Android-powered G1 spurred market share growth on par with the iPhone, but data for the sixth month shows a slowdown in marketshare growth. It’s still to early to make heads or tails of the data in a long-term perspective, but it sure does look like Android is falling behind the iPhone’s post-launch growth numbers.

The likes of Palm should be worried. Net Applications’ numbers suggest that new smartphone platforms may have trouble reaching past the early adopter market and breaking into the more lucrative mass-market. The Android OS’s early, post-launch growth may have been fueled by early adopters scrambling to play with the new smartphone platform. But, once the early adopters had their toys, the Android platform’s penetration into the consumer market seems to have waned.

On the other hand, Android may be doing just fine. Net Applications polls member websites to gather market data, which may not accurately reflect true market performance. With T-Mobile getting ready to presumably launch the HTC Magic as the T-Mobile myTouch3G, we’re sure Magenta’s higher-ups are hoping that Android growth stays on par with the iPhone’s intial growth-pace.

[Via: MarketShare]