Apple the only phone maker to show US subscriber growth since June
Market research firm comScore said Friday that average number of U.S. mobile subscribers using iPhones during the three-month period ending September increased 1.3% to give Apple a 10.2% share of the market.
Overall, a surveyed over 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers age 13 and older found that an average of 234 million Americans used mobile devices during the third quarter.
Market leader worldwide No. 2 Samsung was the only other handset maker that didn't lose subscribers during the three month period, holding its 25.3% share with no change. LG and Motorola both showed a 0.7% decrease in subscribers, followed by RIM who shed 0.8% of the market.
The number of smartphone users rose 12% from the previous quarter with mobile platforms fighting for their share of 87.4 million subscribers. Android was the top-ranked OS with 44.8% of subscribers using handsets running Google's software, a 4.6% bump from three months ago. Apple secured its place behind Android, growing 0.8 points to hold 27.4% of the market, and RIM ranked third with a 18.9% share. Microsoft and Symbian rounded out the top five with 5.6% and 1.8% of the smartphone base, respectively.
Apple's subscriber growth comes amid a rise in the number of consumers who are turning their smartphones to perform data-centric tasks. In particular, comScore's survey found that the number of subscribers using mobile web browsers increased 2.8% to 42.9% during the third quarter, while those downloading apps jumped 3% to 42.5%.
Text messaging remained dominant with 71.1% of consumers using the feature, up 1.5% from June.
25 Comments
Wait, I thought Android was winning.
Wait, I thought Android was winning.
Yes, Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Ask any fandroid and they'll confirm it. What we really need is some sort of equivalency scale. For example how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone in quality and profits? The ratio has to be in the thousands to one. Kinda puts the "500,000 activations per day" in perspective doesn't it.
Wait, I thought Android was winning.
Android is winning. Handset makers and platforms are not the same thing. The iOS platform grew .8% and Android grew 4.6%. That doesn't mean Apple is going to go away, die or anything like that but focusing on a smaller number and ignoring the broader picture does no favors for Apple.
Yes, Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Ask any fandroid and they'll confirm it. What we really need is some sort of equivalency scale. For example how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone in quality and profits? The ratio has to be in the thousands to one. Kinda puts the "500,000 activations per day" in perspective doesn't it.
Well, that's a happily ignorant statement.
How many iPhones does it take to equal one Galaxy Nexus?
See that? That's also an ignorant statement.
Yes, Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Ask any fandroid and they'll confirm it. What we really need is some sort of equivalency scale. For example how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone in quality and profits? The ratio has to be in the thousands to one. Kinda puts the "500,000 activations per day" in perspective doesn't it.
Oh and buy one POS get one POS free deal!