iPhone still ahead of Android in Europe

iPhone is still beating Android in Europe despite the Google OS overtaking it in the US, according to the latest count by the market research boffins at Gartner. Symbian and Blackberry are still ahead of both of them. Dive into the figures and you'll find the future doesn't look so bright for Microsoft…

Gartner says twice as many iPhones flew off the shelves as Android handsets across Europe in the first quarter of 2010 helping Apple retain its spot as the third biggest seller of smartphones worldwide. Meanwhile Android leapfrogged over Windows Mobile to come in at number 4 with phones like the HTC Desire helping to deliver 5.2 million sales.

Symbian is still by far the largest smartphone OS. 24.1m Symbian-toting handsets were sold in during the same period but its market share is slipping, dropping from 48.8 percent to 44.3 percent. That's hardly a massive decline and we've got our fingers crossed that Symbian 3 and the Nokia N8 will deliver.

Blackberry maker RIM is still holding on to the number 2 spot and also has the potential to deliver something exciting with the Blackberry 6 OS. It's Microsoft that really needs to worry having dropped into 5th place with Windows Mobile phones shifting just 3.7 million units. Windows Phone 7 really needs to pull out the stops.

Make your prediction: do you think iPhone 4.0 will keep Apple ahead of Android? Or does the sheer variety of Google OS-packing handsets mean thjavascript:void(0)e 'droid is destined to win?

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Android Now Outselling iPhone

Smartphones carrying Google’s Android operating system outsold the iPhone in the first quarter of 2010, according to new research out today from NPD.

During the quarter, Android (Android) handsets accounted for 28% of smartphone sales, beating out iPhone OS and its 21% share. BlackBerry was the bestselling OS, with its devices capturing 36% of the market. NPD attributes the shift to strong sales of the Motorola Droid and Droid Eris.

The news follows a report last month from AdMob that showed Android’s share of the mobile OS market had actually grown past that of iPhone OS, at least in the U.S. Worldwide, iPhone OS still has a big lead, however, with 46% share compared to Android’s 25%. AdMob’s data is based on ad requests across mobile websites and applications.

With the new Droid Incredible reportedly selling quite well, this trend may continue in the near-term. However, the fourth-generation iPhone is expected to debut next month. Rumors that the iPhone will soon come to Verizon also continue to intensify, with that carrier’s customers indicating they are ready to welcome the device with open arms. If all of that happens, the numbers could quickly swing back in Apple’s favor. Stay tuned.

original article - Mashable - http://mashable.com/2010/05/10/android-outselling-iphone/

40% of Blackberry users willing to trade in for an iPhone

BlackBerry users may be ready to move on to other smartphone platforms, suggesting that RIM isn't keeping up with consumer demand in its efforts to combat growing encroachment from the likes of iPhone and Android.

In fact, two in five BlackBerry owners plan to swap their current device for an iPhone when it's time to upgrade, according to market researcher firm Crowd Science.

The iPhone has had a lasting effect on the smartphone market, changing the conception of what a smartphone should be almost overnight after the launch of the original iPhone in 2007. Despite RIM's entrenchment among business users, however, the iPhone platform has grown at a faster rate than the BlackBerry over the last year.

Perhaps the trend can be explained by Crowd Science's findings that many are using their smartphones for both personal and business use. Nearly a third of iPhone owners use their device for strictly personal use, versus just 16 percent for BlackBerry users. Just one percent of iPhone owners use their device for business only—no surprise there—so two-thirds are using an iPhone for business and personal use. And, while the BlackBerry has a reputation as the best enterprise mobile device, a scant seven percent of BlackBerrys users dedicate the device to business use only. That leaves over three-quarters of BlackBerry owners using their device for dual purposes.

The iPhone isn't the only platform attracting the attention of BlackBerry users, though. Interest in Android-based devices has grown since the introduction of Google's Nexus One, with 32 percent of BlackBerry users surveyed saying they would swap their current device for a Nexus One.

"These results show that the restlessness of BlackBerry users with their current brand hasn't just been driven by the allure of iPhone," John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science, said in a statement. "Rather, BlackBerry as a brand just isn't garnering the loyalty seen with other mobile operating systems."

About 90 percent of current iPhone and Android users plan to stick with their current platform for their next phone upgrade.

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MobileIron announces Managed Service Provider for Smartphone DM

As you may have heard, Enterprise Mobile announced the availability of a Hosted Device Management solution for iPhone and other mobile platforms.

It is powered by technology from MobileIron, a partner that we have been working with very closely for a while now. I am personally excited about this for several reasons:

* Hosted DM is faster to implement – no design reviews, no security committees for our customers to deal with.
* It can be scaled up and down very quickly – if you are hiring 1333 merchandisers for a holiday season, no problem – you only get charged for the 2 months they are employed.
* No ramp up for a company’s IT staff is required.
* Coupled with our other services, it enables a full mobile deployment instantly.

I could go on to say why this is sexy. I could call it cloud computing, SaaS, the ASP model, hosting, outsourcing or any of the other labels that trendy now. The descriptors aren’t as important as the capabilities that hosted device management provides. Of course, we all know that beyond the benefits I mentioned there are challenges with a hosted model that should be considered. User/authentication can be more complex as the identity of users either has to be replicated or re-created with the hosting provider, and some services may be limited in terms of integrating into an existing on-premise infrastructure.

However, I do believe that when you combine our services and capabilities you get more benefits than pitfalls with the hosted model. Of course, if you don’t share that view, you can take advantage of the installation and services on premise. That way you can enjoy looking at the silver appliance in your data center and Enterprise Mobile takes care of all the support, ongoing management, provisioning or even end user support for you. Give us a call…

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iPhone, Android and RIM are the real winners in the Smartphone war

Gartner just released its annual numbers for worldwide mobile phone sales to end users in the year known as two thousand nine.

Looking at smartphone OS market share alone, Gartner shows the iPhone OS, Android, and RIM making the biggest gains (up 6.2, 3.4, and 3.3 percentage points from 2008, respectively) at the expense of Windows Mobile (off 3.1 percentage points) and Symbian (off 5.5 points). Although Gartner says that Symbian "has become uncompetitive in recent years," (ouch) it concedes that market share is still strong especially for Nokia; something backed up by Nokia's Q4 financials and reported quarterly smartphone growth by 5 percentage points.

Regarding total handsets of all classifications sold, Nokia continues to dominate with 36.4% of all sales to end users (down from 38.6% in 2008) while Samsung and LG continue to climb at the expense of Motorola (dropping from 7.6% to 4.5% of worldwide sales in 2009) and Sony Ericsson. See that table after the break or hit up the source for the full report.

If you are looking to manage a mixed estate of Smartphones, check our MobileIron, next generation Smartphone Device Management from Cloud Distribution.

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Apple Grabs 25% of the Smartphone Market, Android Doubles Market Share

comScore has released a report on the state of the US mobile market from September to December 2009, and it shows that the recently established trends of Android and iPhone growth don't show signs of ceasing.
In December 2009 RIM was still the leading mobile smartphone operating system in the U.S., with 41.6% market share, a slight drop from 42.6% from September 2009. Apple has risen from 24.1% to 25.3% in that same period, and Google, although still in the fifth place, has doubled its market share – from 2.5% to 5.2%.



Microsoft lost one percentage point and dropped to 18% share, but the biggest loser of the bunch was Palm, which dropped from 8.3% to 6.1%, despite recent price cuts which made their smartphones one of the cheapest on the market. If Palm doesn't do something to reverse this trend, it may soon be looking at the back of Android, which is growing like a weed, both in the US and internationally.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/FOgFn-4-OlE/

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