

Android devices outselling iOS by 2:1 in US (q3) - anigbrowl
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9194278/Android_phones_outsell_iPhone_2_to_1_says_research_firm

======
rlmw
I find it a bit disappointing that posts like this frequently turn into some
kind of 'android vs iphone' fight. I appreciate everyone has their own
favourite technologies but a comment with well reasoned analysis makes far
better reading in my humble opinion.

------
nl
To all those complaining about the article title:

a) Yes, you are correct that the article itself only talks about iPhones, not
all iOS devices. The title here is wrong and should be corrected.

b) A quick Google search found Apple sold 14.1m iPhones, 9m iPods, 4.19m iPads
in Q4 2010[1]. If Android Phones (devices?) outsold iPod 2:1, then Android
still outsold iOS - although one might argue that ~1 million difference is
possibly within the error bounds of the research.

The only thing that is unclear is if things like the Dell Streak and Samsung
Tab are counted as "smartphones" for the purposes of this research. If they
aren't then the lead Android has in Q4 shipped units increases slightly.
Either way, I'm not sure these devices are shipping in significant enough
numbers to move the results much.

[1]
[http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/apple-q4-2010...](http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/apple-q4-2010-14.1m-iphones-9m-ipods-4.19m-ipads-
sold/)

------
mey
The title of the link is mis-leading, it isn't Android devices, but Android
handsets (smartphones) that are outselling iPhone devices (smartphones).

These statistics do not cover, iPod Touches, iPads, Android Tablets, Android
TV devices etc etc etc etc. Adjust your reality filter accordingly.

~~~
sigzero
Do they even factor in that you can get the iPhone one place and Android in a
thousand?

~~~
mey
I'm curious what that tells you? Or at least what information you looking to
derive.

If I was a carrier, I may care how which handset is more profitable to sell,
which once is in more demand, etc, based on what my network and my competitors
sell. As an application developer you may care about how well the various
Android market systems perform compare to the iPhone market place.
Additionally as a developer you may care about the install base, or target
demographics of that install base.

I don't understand what factoring the number of sales channels (?) compared to
sale volumes will give you statistically. (I'm always willing to be
enlightened, I'm a developer by trade, so stats/biz dev is not my primary
focus)

[edit:]

Additional thought, the rate of introduction of new smartphones on the Android
vs rate of new iPhone releases. Conversely the iPhone introduced June 24th,
will primarily show up on the Q3 sales figures (in the US).

------
zdw
HN article title is wrong - article mentions only the iPhone numbers, not
those for all iOS devices (iPhone+iPod Touch+iPad).

~~~
brk
But the iPod touch and iPad are not phones, and only a subet of the iPads have
the ability access 3G cellular networks. And i doubt any statistically
significant number of iPad 3G users are using the device in place of a phone.

~~~
msbarnett
Er, what? The title reads "Android devices outselling iOS 2:1 in the US", but
that's not what the linked article claims and supports. iPhones, which is what
the article talks about, are a subset of iOS devices.

According to the article, Android phones are outselling iPhones, but there is
no data in the article to support the claim that all Android devices are
outselling iOS as a whole. The title here on HN is incorrect.

~~~
ugh
The title is even doubly wrong. Not only does the article only talk about
iPhones, it also only compares them to Android phones (not Android tablets or
Android devices in general).

------
brk
This will be a curious trend to look at next year after the iPhone is
available on Verizon in the US.

The iPhone also seems targeted toward a tech-savvy buyer who is not price
averse. I see Android handsets on outdated software being offered as free
phones, and of course available on multiple carriers.

The underlying tone of all these comparison stories is (I think) about the
leading platform in terms of development and market share. Which user is
likely to spend more on apps over time? The user who had no problems laying
down hundreds of dollars for a premium handset (and likely upgrading multiple
times), or the user who got into a much cheaper handset on a lower budget
carrier? You could argue it both ways, does saving money on the handset equal
more budget for apps? Or are users who won't pony up for the premium phone
also unwilling to pay 2 or 3 bucks for some games and fart apps?

Does anyone know the numbers on 'premium' Android handset sales figures?

~~~
mey
What is your definition of "premium"?

~~~
brk
HTC Incredible, Droid 2/X, etc. Android devices running, or with an upgrade
path to 2.2 and beyond, a rough example.

~~~
mahmud
Latest figures I saw (recorded Google I/O presentation on Android game
development, the "redux" speech by Chris Pruett) 30% ran 2.2 back in June.

They went from zero to 30% in 10 months:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-62tRHLcHk>

I watch the mobile industry religiously; my biases are firmly with the cross-
platform side of things. I want Palm, Google and MS to compete shoulder to
shoulder so that we (developers) may win; I hate Fascism with a vengeance!

But so far, nothing even comes close to the R2D2 look-alike. The green robot
is just gorgeous, it doesn't hurt that it's Free (as in speech.)

Android, like I said before, is as open to you as your mother's arms. Grok it!
Fork it! Code for it! It's all yours :-)

------
maguay
For some people who don't want an expensive cell contract, or for some reason
need to carry a different phone, the iPod Touch is a great way to get in on a
modern mobile OS. Those have to count big to developers, since iPod Touch
owners are just as likely to use and buy apps (if not maybe more so since
they're likely offline more, so the browser and webapps are less useful).

What's really amazing is that there's no <$200 Android powered iPod Touch
competitor. There's a market gap there in my opinion ... I think every
smartphone OS should have a non-cellular device as well.

------
fadzlan
For something as personal as a mobile phone. I am not surprised.

For a start, not everyone wants a phone everyone else have. And since Apple
only come out with one model of iPhone every year, well...

------
TheBranca18
Are people surprised by this? I mean I'm wondering why this is news. iOS is
locked to first-party hardware, rather than the Android route, so I'm curious
as to what's so surprising about this. Perhaps I'm missing something (would
not be the first time on HN).

------
gte910h
All the android phones on all the carriers outsell 1 phone on 1
carrier....what a surprise.

I want to see the updated data on what % of app dollars are spent on what OS
today.

~~~
pyre
I hate the 'dick waving' that goes on with this stuff from either side of the
aisle:

\---

Apple fans (now): Quantity ensures quality. You can't have a decent AppStore
without X million apps.

Android fans (now): Quality over quantity! It's better to have an AppStore
with quality apps than it is to have one with a large number of apps that
aren't quality!

\---

Apple fans (when Android's AppStore has more apps than Apple's AppStore):
Quality over quantity! It's not quantity that matters, it's the quality of the
apps!

Android fans (when Android's AppStore has more apps than Apple's AppStore):
Quantity over quality! Because our App store has more apps than yours it
ensures that there are more quality apps!

\---

Apple fans (when iPhones outsell Android phones): Android phones will _never_
outsell iPhones. The iPhone is much more intuitive, and the 'mendicants' could
never figure out an Android phone it's just too complex. Normal people will
_never_ go for a phone that has font kerning that is off by 2 pixels! Besides,
just look at the iPhone sales numbers!

Android fans (when iPhones outsell Android phones): But we're not offered on
enough networks yet! And our phone is more quality!

\---

Apple fans (when Android phones outsell iPhones): But the iPhone is only sold
from a single carrier! It's not fair to compare numbers! Besides, the iPhone
is a better quality product!

Android fans (when Android phones outsell iPhones): Look at the numbers! We
beat you! Nah-nah! Android phones outsell iPhones!

~~~
gte910h
I was dick waving? I was underwhelmed with the title of the post, acting like
it was surprising that 1 phone was being outsold by 24.

~~~
pyre
Sorry, that wasn't directed at you, but your post spawn my thought, so I made
it a reply.

------
kevinelliott
Selling twice as many piles of low quality, poorly designed phones as premium
ones is still selling twice as much garbage. At the end of the day, just
because you sell more doesn't mean your product is better. This is proof of
that.

From a business perspective, Android manufacturers need to sell many, many
more devices in order to even come close to Apple's profitability.

Look at how well Apple is able to not just manufacture their devices, but also
design chips, main boards, visual and function design, create excellent
software with profoundly amazing developer frameworks, and run meaningful
marketing campaigns... all while turning an incredible profit margin.

Google and its manufacturing partners are simply not producing high grade and
thoughtful products. So until they do, who really cares about it "outselling
iOS 2:1".

~~~
mahmud
You are sorely mistaken, my friend.

You and I will never be in a position to sell a successful mobile handset[1],
so let's just focus on the app development and sales.

In terms of ease of use, we can use whatever tool we're most comfortable with
to develop for Android: C, C++, Java, Flash, C#, Python, Scheme, Ruby, etc.
and we have guaranteed approval. Neither Google nor other alleged gatekeepers
can dick with our right to publish software. Even if we choose to give it away
for free, users can download our apps and install on their Android phones
without anybody knowing about it, getting a cut or messing with them. "adb
install MyApp.apk" is a birth right on Android, bless the beautiful platform!

For a developer, Android is multitasking, garbage collected, and modern,
almost to a fault. You can tweak it to your liking, as much as you want. And
should you choose to, you can build it from sources and deploy it on your new
exotic board that nobody has ever heard of.

At this point, Android is bigger than the efforts of all the carriers and
handset creators, combined. What Android can do is only limited by your
imagination, skill, and budget. Nothing is stopping you from developing a new
mobile handset that puts the iPhone to shame (and many have done this) and
loading Android with it.

Instead of finding fault in specific Android deployments or handsets, ask
yourself: what do I want to do with Android?

This thing is bigger than a movement, it's a tsunami wave standing a mile
tall: I want to ride it, I want _you_ to ride it. Let's put our creativity
together and make use of this thundering power. Or stand in its way to be
crushed.

\--

[1] Unless we use Android or Maemo, which are Free Software :-)

~~~
kevinelliott
I never said I wanted to be in the handset business.

And frankly, there's not much money to be made in making Android apps.
Android's "openness" lends to users thinking apps are not worthy of
purchasing, so few paid apps are actually doing well on the Android Market. In
most cases, it costs more to build an Android app than it's worth.

I get that Android is huge. It's a nice second rung. But it suffers from
countless flaws (UX and UI, market profitability for devs, device
fragmentation, etc).

