Android strong but still dwarfed by Apple iOS

Apple iOS still is ahead of Android in marketshare

We’ve heard a lot about the rapid ascension of Android, as Google’s mobile operating system recently outsold Apple iPhone and BlackBerry in the United States and many are predicting Android will be the second-largest mobile OS in the world. But part of this growth is because it was coming from no market share and a new report from NetMarket Share suggests Android is still dwarfed by the Apple iPhone and iOS.

“Although Android devices are rapidly gaining usage share, iOS has 4.9 times the global usage share of all Android devices,” NetMarket Share said.

The company said Android accounted for .24% of global Internet usage while Apple iOS was 1.18%. Keep in mind, those numbers are low because it includes all NetMarket Share Internet usage, including computers.

Part of Apple’s advantage over the little green robot and other platforms is that is also has popular iOS devices which don’t require phone contracts. The iPod touch essentially owns the personal media market and the latest version is essentially an iPhone 4 without the cellular radios.

The Apple iPad also runs iOS and it has been a legitimate hit. The tablet has sold more than 3 million units since it was launched earlier this year and it has legitimized the tablet space.

It may just be a matter of time before Google’s mobile OS surpasses Apple iOS in usage and market share though. The little green robot is already on more than 60 devices on multiple carriers and it shows no sign of losing momentum.

We are just beginning to see Android make its way to the tablet space, even though Google says it’s not optimized for this type of device. The Samsung Galaxy Tab will be hitting all four major carriers soon and we’re already hearing that Dell, Motorola and maybe HTC will bring out tablets with Google’s mobile operating system.

This fight is far from over folks.

[Via NetMarket Share]

About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

Brian

Your editor must be out to lunch. The head is missing the essential fact: “dwarfed BY ios”
Your android advocates will be happy. Brian
Brian

Your head on thiis could not be more wrong. You mean ‘dwarfed by ios’. B
sd_dreamer

Since the first week of the iPad launch fanboys have used 3 million units sold to show how popular the iPad is — hasn’t it sold more yet? Is this more Apple fanboy hyperbole??
Marin Perez

Yep, it’s been a looong week. Thanks. Fixed.
Ahmed Dada

Pretty biased and unrealistic comparison. Internet usage is not the only usage of these devices. The number of android devices sold are a lot more than iOS. Internet usage is not the only use of these devices. So thinking that the device is being used more based on internet usage is very very inaccurate. Keep in mind that unlike iPhone, Android users does not have to have internet service required for the device.
CJ

How is that a comparison? From what I read IPhone users use the internet more than android users. Maybe I am just reading it incorrectly but if I am not this article is bogus.
Marin Perez

I’m sure it’s about double that by now but the last official number was the 3.x million during Apple’s last quarter announcement.
Ahmed Dada

Maybe the heading should say comparison of the internet usage not the operating system itself. That will make fanboys happy that atleast they are winning in some manner.
Anonymous

Funny thing is this comparison reminds me a bit of Nokias Symbian.

“Well… Android surpassed us in high-end device sales but we still got alot of users”

Last words of a dying system.
Scott

What does this chart represent? As a small child I learned to label my data.
randygrenier

I think it’s interesting that we look at sales of smart phones as a slug fest. I think the real news is that a user can choose either platform and be somewhat secure that it will be in business for a while.
gdigenis

I am guessing bloggers get paid for every time someone clicks through and reads one of their articles, otherwise I can’t understand how you came up with such a misleading title for this post? As its not the first time your titles are misleading I will just not bother to read any of your posts
Paul

Wow im surprised how wrong this article actually is…
Did a ten year old doing high school commerce write this?
The apple os will never die android may surpass it in maybe 10 years but currently there are about 25 million devices running the latest ios. 25 mill… more than the population of australia. Australia hasnt died for lack of people.
Sandor

Indeed, how wrong can someone be. It should be obvious to a child that you can always have more of the cheap stuff than the expensive for the same money. Apple will always target a niche market with their devices, just like it did with personal computing. It is beyond me why people could think that iOS will stay ahead of any phone operating system that is allowed and able to run on hardware from any manufacturer in every imaginable price bracket.

Apple iOS was never the smartphone platform with the largest user base anyway, and who cares? It was about the user experience; that’s where apple slapped Nokia and Microsofts faces. And it is fortunate that Android is such a flexible and versatile platform because it allows for the same kind of user experience to reach the masses, not just the tech junkies who don’t mind sleeping two nights on the streets in front of an Apple store to spend half of their monthly salary on a piece of silicone wrapped in plastic (or aluminum if you want) casing.