
2011 was the year of Android. A little over a year ago Andy Rubin
tweeted that 300,000 Android devices were being activated each day. In January we
reported that Android had surpassed iOS in terms of US smartphone market share. In June Android's activations-per-day
reached 500,000; this month they
hit 700,000. That's
more than double the rate at which it was spreading when it overtook iOS. By comparison, UBS
estimated in December that Apple would sell 30 million iPhones in 4Q 2011. Sounds like a lot, until you realize that Android devices -- almost all of which are phones, as Rubin's numbers
don't include Kindle Fires or Nooks -- are being activated at a rate of
five million a week, or 65 million in a quarter. In other words, Android phone sales were probably close to
double Apple's during the quarter in which Apple's flagship iPhone 4S was released. I expect Apple
outsold Android at Christmas, given that they boasted this year's
three most wanted gifts, but Android will make up that difference in a few short weeks. How did this happen? Certainly not because Android is better. Almost no one disputes that Apple's user experience is superior. Thanks to Android's
horrific fragmentation problems, the Android version that developers write apps for - 2.2, which was released in
May 2010 - is distinctly inferior to iOS 5. The iPhone 4S is a fantastic high-end phone, the 4 a terrific mid-level one, and the 3GS still a respectable player in the free-with-contract market. So why has everyone gone Android?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/apple/~3/2l-oyMi-uGk/
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