The majority of new mobile buyers are finding that a smartphone has so much more to offer than a traditional feature phone, especially when the price is right.
There has been an increasing number of smartphones appearing in the market recently and handset prices have been dropping. This, combined with more affordable data plans, has led to stronger smartphone adoption in the US.
Two thirds of buyers in the US who purchased a mobile phone in the last three months opted to buy a smartphone said market researcher Nielsen in a report published on July 12.
Overall smartphone penetration in the US continues to grow, with more than half (54.9%) of US mobile subscribers owning smartphones as of June 2012.
Android is by far the most popular platform in the country, capturing 51.8% of the market. Its dominance is partly due to the wide spectrum of low- to mid-priced handsets available on the market, coupled with the range of desirable high-end flagship models sporting the operating system.
Apple’s iOS platform is second with 34.3% of the market while RIM’s BlackBerry platform trails behind at 8.1%.
Google’s Android platform is even more popular with new smartphone acquirers, 54.6% of whom chose a smartphone running Android in the last three months. Apple has also seen recent gains with 36.3% of new smartphone owners choosing an iPhone in the US. Together, Apple’s iPhones and devices running Google’s Android platform make up more than 90% of the smartphones sold in the US in the last three months.
The number of new smartphone buyers purchasing a BlackBerry from Research In Motion (RIM) has dropped to just 4%.
When it comes to handset sales by individual smartphone manufacturers, Apple is leading the pack with 34% of the market. Samsung has moved into second place with 17.5% and is followed by HTC (17.4%), Motorola (11%), RIM (9%) and Nokia (1.2%).
In May market researcher IDC reported that combined, iOS and Android accounted for more than 80% of the total worldwide smartphone market during 1Q 2012, up from 54.4% in Q1, 2011. – AFP/Relaxnews 2012
