Nielsen, the go-to source when you've got a statistic-hungry mind, released a report today on the smartphone market in the first half of 2010. Android, which experienced 866 percent sales growth over the past year, had the biggest increase in market share from users buying a device in the past six months, jumping from 17 percent to 27 percent. When it comes to all subscribers, however, the story is a little different. BlackBerry still holds the biggest slice of the pie, at 35 percent marketshare, with Apple's iOS at 28 percent, Windows Mobile at 15 percent, Android at 13 percent, webOS at 3 percent, and Symbian and Linux tied at 2 percent each.
The report also contains a graph detailing the next potential device for users thinking about upgrading their smartphone. Apple's iPhone is the most desirable device, with 89 percent of current iPhone owners remaining loyal and 21 percent of Android owners and 29 percent of BlackBerry owners considering a switch to iOS. When it comes to Android loyalty, 71 percent of users said that they planned to stick with Google's green robot, with 21 percent of BlackBerry owners and 6 percent of iPhone owners considering moving to Android. Lastly, only 42 percent of BlackBerry owners plan to pick up another 'Berry as their next smartphone.
The Nielsen report definitely sheds some light on the smartphone market, and it was interesting to see how many smartphone owners are considering switching to a new platform. It's not terribly surprising that Apple's iPhone has the most loyalty considering an average iPhone user spends around $105 on apps during their two-year contract period. While we are still waiting on new hardware and a webOS revision from Palm, as well as the release of Windows Phone 7 in November, the smartphone world is increasingly looking like a two horse race between Android and iPhone.
Via All Things D, Nielsen
