Neilsen's recent survey in July 2011 has some interesting facts about the smartphone market in the US. As of now, every 4 in 10 phones in the US is a smartphone with Android smartphones dominating the market followed by Apple's iOS and Blackberry (RIM) in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. This really goes to show how far the smartphone industry has progressed and despite smartphones being very expensive (relatively) they still make up a huge 40% of all phones in the US.
Android has advanced significantly aswell, within a short period of 3 years, the operating system has grown massively and now runs on 40% of all smartphones in the US. Apple is in second place at 28% and Blackberry in 3rd place at a 19% market share. The remaining 13% of the market is held by Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile and other operating systems.
Furthermore, 30% of users are planning on buying an iOS powered smartphone next year whereas 30% are planning on buying an Android smartphone. The future for the smartphone market seems full of potential as more and more users shift from feature phones to smartphones. It seems like Android and iOS between themselves will continue to dominate the smartphone market for now. It will be interesting to see how the situation develops over the coming year and how Windows Phone 7 "Mango" in particular affects iOS and Android sales though I'm expecting the effect won't be that big.
On a last note, Apple's 28% share just goes to show how popular the iPhone is. Despite having numerous competitors from Samsung and HTC, Apple still maintains a hefty share of the market and things will only get better for them with the expected launch of the iPhone 5 in the coming weeks.
