Market share
Smartphone marketshare between iOS, Android and WP7 is fairly straightforward, though the numbers between different studies do vary. As in the picture above, Android has 42.8% of the smartphone market, while iOS has 28.3%. All the way on the right, WP7 has a measly 1.2%, as of November 29 in the US. Gartner shows worldwide market share is even higher for Android, with 52.5% (up from 25.3% a year earlier), while iOS has 15% and Microsoft (WP7 and older Windows Mobile OSs) at 1.5%.
Growth is also very pertinent, and Android is the only OS to show any growth worldwide. iOS dropped from 16.6% last year, and Microsoft went down from 2.7% (though many of those losses came from Windows Mobile 6.5 users). Furthermore, 56% of new smartphone users are opting for Android-based devices, compared to 28% of iPhone buyers.
Winner: Android
With overwhelming growth in both the US and worldwide, Android takes the cake. iOS takes a solid second, while WP7 is still behind Blackberry, HP’s WebOS, Symbian, and Microsoft’s own Windows Mobile.
TabletsIn the tablet space, iOS rules. According to a report by Canaccord Genuity, Apple is expected to have 65% of the tablet marketshare with the iPad and iPad 2. Samsung is the closest competitor with just 8% from a handful of their Galaxy Tabs, all Android-based. Combined, Android is expected to cover the majority of the remaining tablets sold, with Windows 7 tablets taking a minimal and ever-shrinking percentage.
Reports of Android growth in the tablet space are inconsistent at best. New reports that come out every few months show growth, but that Apple remains on top of the tablet market by a wide margin. According to Microsoft, Windows Phone 7 will not come to tablets; instead, next version of Windows (for desktop and laptop computers) will be designed from the ground up for tablets as well. Windows 8 is expected to release sometime in 2012. The OS is currently available to developers now and will have an open beta in February.
iOS and Android for tablets share the same traits as they do for smartphones. While the version for Android is currently different (3.2 vs 2.3), it has remained largely unchanged since releasing in February this year. Google will, as with smartphones, upgrade tablet firmware to Android 4.0, but frankly software UI isn’t the problem with Android tablets: apps are the problem.
Both iOS and Android have all smartphone apps available for tablets, but there are pitifully few tablet-specific apps available for Android. While the iPad has the most and best apps by an incredible margin (including recent games like Infinity Blade II and Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies), various Android tablets have unique functions not available on other tablets. Amazon’s Kindle Fire, for instance, can stream any video content available on the Amazon Video Store.
Conclusions
In this battle royale between the two largest mobile OSs and the smallest up and comer, there is no clear winner. That’s up for you to decide, and perhaps rage about, in the comments. iOS is still the king of apps and has the best features, and Android’s openness has enabled it to be the easiest purchase decision and the leader in smartphones.
WP7, however, may yet be a trick pony. It does so much right, from the brilliant software design to simple yet perfect features like instant local search, and even Xbox Live integration. We’re not yet at the point where hardcore 360 owners will want to switch over, but if you aren’t dying to get the latest apps now, WP7 has a lot to offer.
If you’re looking for straight up gaming, iOS is your best bet. Just check out IGN Wireless and you’ll see the vast majority of games are for iOS, and for good reason: nearly every good game hits Apple’s devices first. For anyone living in the Google ecosystem, Android is by far the best. No other handset is built from the ground up for impeccable integration with Gmail, Google Talk, Google Voice, Google Music, or any other Google services.
Which OS is right for you?
No comments:
Post a Comment