From what I’ve been hearing lately, I was under the impression that Android has been a better option for advertisers than iOS in recent months. All of the reports on mobile marketing that have compared the two have commented on how much better Android is for advertisers, and how CTRs on Android platforms often prove to be significantly better. People have been more excited about Android than ever lately, but now there is news that shows Android as being a bit worse off than marketers may believe. Then again, there are a lot of people out there who could have seen this coming from a mile away.
According to Strategy Analytics, as reported by Virtual-Strategy Magazine, Android powered Smartphones are down 56% in the United States market in Q2 of 2012. Apparently, the shipments of smartphones dropped 5% for the year, reaching 24 million units during Q2. The research shows that the Android operating system has lost a lot of its lead to Apple iOS, causing its share to fall four points to 56%. Strategy Analytics experts estimated that Android had 13.4 million smartphone shipments for 56% shares, while last year the number was 15.3 million at 61% shares. Apparently, Android is still, by volume, the number one platform in the country, “but its market share is approaching a peak and Apple iOS has been gaining ground.”
Not only has Android seen troubles in market shares, but Blackberry has seen some issues in the past year as well. Scott Bicheno who is a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics comments on Blackberry’s market health, saying that,“Blackberry’s smartphone market share in the United States has dropped from 11 percent to 7 percent over the past year, reaching its lowest level in recent history. Consumers, businesses and operators continue to be frustrated by Blackberry’s limited touchscreen smartphone portfolio and repeated delays to its new BB10 operating system.”
Apple’s iOS is the only platform left that still shows signs of growth, giving the people at Apple an opportunity to make changes and prosper further. There is evidence of Apple already making an effort to pull in front of the race, as they are soon to release a new version of the iPhone, according to rumor. If they do release this new device, the pressure on Android and Blackberry will become immense, and when put under a lot of pressure, things tend to break.
I’m not saying that this slight change in the race is going to ruin either of the companies that have pulled back, but Apple may just shine in the spotlight for a while. There couldn’t have been a better time to plan a release of a new device than when competitors are down in the market. Anyway, when considering which platform is most reliable, it’s definitely helpful to know about their standing in the United States market, and anything that may have happened within it. Android and Blackberry are still reliable for advertisers, but Apple may pop up soon as a better option.
