Android already surpasses iPhone

[Diggles]

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I'm surprised to see this already, as I know about 20 people with iPhones but not 1 person with an Android phone.

[Arsilon]

There is a bit of skew to these results since Apple has a single device from a single cell service provider while Android is spread across multiple devices across multiple providers. So its not surprising to me that Android would outsell iPhone compared at the OS level -- although how quickly it has caught up might be a bit of a surprise.

That being said I know several people that have Android devices now -- many of which took part in the Verizon special offer that was mentioned in the linked article. I think I probably know more Android users than iPhone users actually. Then again I live in an area where Verizon service is much more reliable than AT&T's but even if I look at my more distant contacts in other parts of the country this is still probably true. In fairness, most of the people I know from other parts of the country are probably work related contacts where Blackberry would be the norm.

I love my Android device and my wife arguably likes hers even more. I've haven't found anything that can be done on an iPhone (that I care about) that can't be done on the Android (although I'm still waiting for the promised OS upgrade on my particular device to get free turn-by-turn GPS navigation and I have one built into my car anyway.)

[Fretty]

I love my Android. The amount of Android users I know is pretty much the equivalent of iPhone users I know.

There is one thing I know that the iPhone can do that Android cannot do (at least not from what I can figure out):
There is a lot of streaming video online that is formatted for iProducts. I believe it's in m4a format? Either way, it's the only streaming video that I 'cannot' play with my Android device. I've looked on the app store for something that will allow streaming of m4a videos, but no such luck.

Have you tried or noticed that at all Arsilon? And if so, do you know a 'fix'?

[Grieve]

I'm curious to see the new Droid Incredible, but otherwise I haven't been too impressed by Android. I know far more iPeople than droid drones, but of the android users I know, several had buyer's remorse after they got one.

For now, iPhones are still way out in front for user satisfaction, both for home and business users...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10371376-37.html

[Jakensama]

Well to be fair "for now" is an article from October of last year and the post diggles made referred to the first quarter this year when several of the new HTC models were available.

The HTC Desire blows the iphone away imo, if I didn't have to type so much for work on my phone, making a touchscreen useless, I would have one in a second.

Competition is good though.

[Slamz]

There is a bit of skew to these results since Apple has a single device from a single cell service provider ...

Which is an apparently self-imposed limitation that I've never been able to make sense of.

I would have owned an iPhone a long time ago if I didn't have to switch to AT&T. When my next "new every two" is up, I'll probably get a Droid or similar.

[Grieve]

There is a bit of skew to these results since Apple has a single device from a single cell service provider ...

Which is an apparently self-imposed limitation that I've never been able to make sense of.

I would have owned an iPhone a long time ago if I didn't have to switch to AT&T. When my next "new every two" is up, I'll probably get a Droid or similar.

Apple offered the original iPhone deal to Verizon, but Verizon wasn't interested in the terms Apple wanted. Apple got a great deal from AT&T, which means they get a ton of cash for every phone sold. I'd say that makes AT&T smarter than Verizon... That's also one reason why AT&T offers crazy cheap iPad data charges without a plan.

Plus there are technical issues with making a CDMA phone, which are only now getting resolved. There now IS a CDMA iPhone prototype, which will probably be available early next year. Apple has a 5 year exclusivity deal with AT&T.

[Vanraw]

Its the 5 year exclusivity deal with AT&T that is the issue. Its true that Apple came to VZ first, but VZ wasn't interested in the deal. The CDMA technology had little to do with it.

I honestly suspect that unless Apple delivers a CDMA iPhone, you will see more and more apps written openly for all phones, or at least a great number for the android operating system. Software developers will tend to go where the population is so they can get a a nitch and make a bundle. As Android increases, you will see focus move as well.

[Riz]

I think you vastly underestimate the situation with the metrics. Honestly, it's not worth my time currently to pursue the Android as a viable platform. The amount of Android OS devices in the market is trivial. Sure, they are doing ok in the phone market, but let's not forget the 80+ million iPod Touches out there. That kind of skews the market very heavily in Apple's favor. Given that the iPad already sold more than a million units just in the first month of the US release, and there will be a pretty large spike in iPhone sales in a month when the new model comes out, I'd say Apple is still the horse to bet on.

The biggest problems plaguing Android are segmentation and no clear OS upgrade path for most phones. This needs to be resolved before it's a truly viable platform for companies to invest heavily in for development.

Honestly, I'm happy to see Android doing so well in the phone market. It will be very interesting to see what they do in the tablet market. Competition is good. However, Google is far from toppling Apple.

[Jakensama]

The biggest problems plaguing Android are segmentation and no clear OS upgrade path for most phones.

How big a problem is that, really? People keep phones for like 2 years these days then usually get their upgrades. (Or, if you are a drunk like me you loose or break yours several times a year so that it is may and you are on company phone #4 of 2010).

[Riz]

It's a huge problem for developers. Parts of the OS are open in one release and not in the next (or the API changed), or you have an API that you code to, and somebody downloads your app and runs it on an earlier version. Add to that, you don't know for sure what the capabilities of each device are going to be...how much memory you have available, what size resolution, processor speed, etc. Further, a phone doesn't need to expose all the features or capabilities of the Android OS (like the WinCE model). It can be customized to fit the device. This makes testing hell.

[Vanraw]

The same OS issues exist on the iphone.

The deal with the Android is its cross carrier / platform / CDMA - GSM support. This alone will continue to increase its sales, until Apple breaks the exclusivity with ATT. Also to note, I read that most of the iPhone developers are now easily recompiling code to Android. Applicaions are now over 50k. So its not like developing from ground zero.

This is the same trend you saw in the development community related to console and PC games. Developers started using tools that would allow for compiling the program in multi platform's with one set of code. You will see that more and more, and as you do, you will see any platform that is exclusive / not open (ie apple) lose its market share.

I predict that Apple will release a iPhone for CDMA (Sprint and or VZ) this year or early next year. They will have to in order to keep up. If they dont, you will see thier market share take a huge loss. I know several iphone owners that are all salivating over friends droids, and as soon as the 2 year contract is done they will be moving to VZ.

The cell phone business is a fast moving business, where consumers jump ship every time they want a new phone. Its gadget driven and the time to live is about 2 years.

I thought it was funny when jobs unveiled the iPad, and when he said it would support ATT GSM, the crowd almost boo'ed him.

[Grieve]

The same OS issues exist on the iphone.

I'm not sure that's true. I remember trying to install apps on my wife's Blackberry, and finding that half of them didn't work, and many that did, didn't work properly. Why? Because there's a zillion different Blackberry devices, all with different capabilities, screen sizes, etc. Android has the same problem. They might all share the same O/S (or versions of it), but (as Riz indicated) how on earth do developers test apps on such a wide variety of devices?

Apple doesn't have that problem, or at least not yet. Sure, there's some minor differences between the original iPhone, the 3G (which I have), the 3GS (which my wife has), and (I'm sure) the new one coming out this year. But we've never run into an app we can't both run, and I haven't yet found an iPhone app that doesn't run on my iPad.

I think Android may be more popular amongst some in the techie crowd (not that I'm not a member of that crowd myself), but for the average user who just wants something that works easily, the iPhone will stay more popular. I think they will both take market share from Blackberry, but Apple will win. Just like the iPod won against a zillion clones, some of which you could argue were "technically" better.

[Vanraw]

Well we will see. I think that if Apple doesn't support CDMA, they will be over taken, at least in America. For me, I have the best phone I have ever had and am happy with it. Its a blackberry world edition. When it melts, Ill buy another.

[Arsilon]

Well we will see. I think that if Apple doesn't support CDMA, they will be over taken, at least in America. For me, I have the best phone I have ever had and am happy with it. Its a blackberry world edition. When it melts, Ill buy another.

I actually really liked my Blackberry. The primary reason I switched to a Droid device was when my Blackberry started to fail, I wanted to get one with a touch screen and a trackball like my old world edition. The Blackberry devices on the market now with touch-screen was weird in that the whole screen moved when you pressed it -- it felt "wrong" when trying to use the screen. They also did away with the trackball and went to a touchpad like thing instead.

The one knock I had against touch screens in general is the inability to re-map where the "target" is when you're using the on-screen keyboard. You'd have to re-learn where that was on a given device based on the size of your fingers. The HTC Eris had the ability to remap that.

The other factor I actually liked was being able to seamlessly sync contacts, calendar, etc. on the device itself or on my computer without having to run the desktop syncing application or hook up via USB. It's also nice that I can log into my wife's gmail account and insert something into her calendar, add a contact, etc. for her and she gets it automatically no matter where she is. I use this feature to help my mother as well.

[Riz]

Actually I sync with my gmail account (mail, contacts, calendar) and I almost never connect to my PC. I don't have much need to connect to my PC (I stream most of my music and movies from my PC hard-drive over my 3g connection), so I just don't.

99% of the Android lovers that I know are techies. It's mostly the same crowd that loves LINUX. Most of the non-techie people I know love their Blackberry. Quite a few of them own an ipod touch and would buy the iphone if it came out for VZ. The media is now full of disinformation about how long Apple is tied to AT&T exclusively (some stories claiming through 2012, while others claim the new VZ phones will be out this fall when the original AT&T agreement is up), so it's really up in the air. Strangely, I'm happy as hell with AT&T in Pittsburgh (they actually have better coverage in the city than anyone else), so for me, I have no need to change.

[Grieve]

Have to agree with Riz. I almost never sync my iPhone to the computer - really only when there is an O/S update. I can buy apps and music from the iPhone itself, my work and Google mail/calendars/contacts are all synced over the air, and I can grab music and video from my desktop through wi-fi. I'm not sure not sure non-iPhone users realize you don't need to sync with iTunes on your desktop.

And AT&T service is excellent in this area (DC/MD/VA/WV). Haven't had dropped calls, voice is very clear, data is fast, could even get 3G in HicksVille, WV, etc.

[Riz]

Seems what the article failed to mention was that the "surpass" was only from 150000 people surveyed. It has nothing to do with actual usage or sales statistics. It was also only on purchases made in the first quarter of 2010. Simply put, there are more iPhones than Androids after all. All it said was that the really small survey sample preferred the Android by a pretty small margin. They preferred it during that lowest sales time for iPhones (right before announcement of the new models) and while VZ was giving a 2 for 1.

Yeah, useless figures after all. This argument is now defunct.

[Vanraw]

I never sync with my PC. Of course its because we have the Blackberry enterprise server connected to our exchange servers. I can actually sit anywhere and do my job 100% with my blackberry.

But its not a toy. Its a tool. And it does everything I need.

[Zirak]

My phone is connected to a wire that goes into the wall. I own neither a cell phone nor a music player nor an electronic book reader and only briefly toyed with a PDA once upon a time. I love technology and I love gadgets but, not having a job that requires them, I can justify the cost of none of these things.

[Riz]

Luddite!

[Jakensama]

I miss the days without cell phones when my clients couldnt wake me up at 3 am...

On another note, who the hell synchs their phones in the first place?

[Grieve]

Of course its because we have the Blackberry enterprise server connected to our exchange servers. I can actually sit anywhere and do my job 100% with my blackberry.

Just out of curiousity, what does it let you do? Does it let you do things you couldn't do with an iPhone or Android phone?

[Jakensama]

Type on a keyboard instead of a craptastic touch screen pseudo keyboard? (Actually I don't know, there may be android devices out there with keyboards somewhere..)

Blackberry messenger is also somewhat widely used in the professional world, but thats nothing special about the blackberry, more that its the defacto standard and its easier on your battery than running all the other various chat programs in the background always.

Will have flash support this year too. Though as a business tool device thats all not that big a deal, its better suited for surfing toys like the android/iphone.

On a side note, this investment schmuck cold called me to give me an 'inside tip' about this hot stock called apple... thanks Gordon Gekko.

[Moristans]

I hate Apple. The iPhone is the only Apple product I own and I'm aready tired of the proprietary bullshit and shenanigans I'm forced to put up with for being a good boy and using their products as intended.

The iPhone and iPad are wonderful products for the masses of lemmings who don't mind paying a premium for convenience at the cost of being married to Apple. I think the Android phones are just the beginning of the backlash against a company who used to be the banner carrier for the sensible alternative.