Strong iPhone 4S Sales Narrows Market Gap between iOS, Android
The battle for smartphone supremacy can be seen as a handicap match of sorts. Apple’s iOS platform has only one representative, the iPhone, while on the other hand, there are several Android phones making up the market share of Google’s operating system.
According to a survey from Nielsen, the iPhone 4S, again the lone bearer of the iOS flag, is becoming the smartphone of choice for more and more consumers.
The figures revealed by Nielsen last Wednesday were culled from 2011 numbers, and it was evident in these numbers that the iPhone kept gaining ground steadily as months went on. This was especially true in the two months following the iPhone 4S’ October 2011 release. That said, close to 50 percent of all respondents still favored Android phones based on the survey results.
To be specific, the gap between iOS and Android in the battle of operating systems was just two percent in December. Smartphone sales figures for December 2011 show Android leading with 46 percent, followed by Apple at 44 percent and everyone else (Blackberry, Windows Phones, etc.) accounting for the remaining ten percent. This was largely due to the frenzy caused by the release of the iPhone 4S and the high number of activations done towards the end of 2011.
However, there are some factors that might help Android increase its lead once again in 2012. First is the number of 4G LTE phones featuring the Android OS. Moreover, there is also a possibility that the iPhone 5 (possibly with 4G LTE) may be out only in October.
Although, if rumors regarding the next iPhone’s LTE capabilities are true, some analysts believe there’s a good chance iOS might eventually beat out Android in terms of market share.
Related posts: