Android Shakes Up U.S. Smartphone Market
Normally second place is not a celebrated accomplishment, but when you’re up against the giant that is Apple, getting second place is a big deal. Google, who helped develop the mobile device operating system, Android, is probably more than satisfied with this place…for now. According to market research firm NPD, “Google’s Android operating system edged up into second place in the US smartphone market during the first quarter of the year, leaving it still well behind RIM’s BlackBerry OS, but marking the first time that it has moved ahead of Apple’s iPhone OS.” Specifically, NPD found that RIM maintained a strong 36% market share for the quarter, with Android coming in at 28%, and iPhone OS in third at 21%. The growth for Android was attributed largely to carriers like Verizon and Sprint which don’t have the iPhone OS and are forced to heavily market Android. Verizon also maintains a 30 percent smartphone market share, which is just slightly behind AT&T at 32%, and ahead of T-Mobile and Sprint at 17% and 15%, respectively.