iPhone Vs Android – The Battle of EqualsOverview
The iPhone OS which has gained huge popularity globally was unveiled in January 2007 by Apple and was released the same year in the month of June. From the day when the mobile operating system hit the market, there was a revolution on cards in the smartphone industry. With its technology, user interface and features, the iPhone OS has taken a large share in the market from the time it was released and has been acclaimed by users. On the other hand, the Android operating system which is built on the Linux kernel was unveiled by Google during the formation of the Open Handset Alliance in November 2007 and released in October 2008. The mobile platform instantly appealed to users all around the world with its usability and open source technology. The years 2007 and 2008, which witnessed the introduction of two innovative mobile platforms respectively, marked a completely new era in the smartphone market arena. Both, the iPhone OS and Android OS have shown an exponential growth pattern in their market share since they were first introduced.
Synopsis
iPhone OS Statistics: The iPhone OS is the operating system which is deployed on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. All the three portable gadgets from Apple have an enormous popularity among users and had received a grand welcome from the users when they were released. Even now, the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone continue to impress consumers and are constantly growing in their sales number every year. In 2010, Apple announced that it has sold around 3 million iPads, 35 million iPod touches and 50 million iPhones worldwide since their launch. The idea of over 88 million devices running on the iPhone OS is an impressive statistic achieved in a period of just 3 years. Also, with the growing sales number, the market share of the mobile platform has been constantly growing as shown in the following diagram. (Refer Fig 1.1)
The diagram shows that the iPhone OS entered the market as a new product in 2007 and in spite of the novelty it had a market share of 2.70 percent. The market share increased substantially in year 2008 and reached up to 9.60 percent which accounts for a growth of more than two and half times as compared to the previous year. In year 2009, the number of devices deployed with iPhone OS grew even further and mobile platform gained a market share of 15.10 percent which is an impressive growth of 57 percent from 2008. The important thing that is to be noted is the growth of the smartphone market by itself in these three years. So the number of smartphones that were sold also increased year after year which shows that the performance of iPhone OS has been excellent as compared to other platforms. The following chart (Refer fig 1.2) represents the market share of Apple’s iPhone OS in the first and second quarter of year 2010. Apple recently announced their in Q1, FY10, the market share for iPhone OS in global markets was 15.4 percent whereas in the second quarter of the year, it climbed up to 17.4 percent which is a growth of 13 percent. If the first two quarters of 2010 are considered, the average market share of the mobile platform for six months is still more than the 2009 market share. The reason behind such tremendous growth of the platform besides the UI and technology is the App Store service provided by Apple which enables users to download applications and music from the iTunes Store. In their fourth quarter earnings announced recently, the revenue of Apple soared to $20.34 billion with a profit of $4.31 billion. The sales of iPhone for this quarter reached 14.1 million units. Also, the Apple App Store which has an important contribution in the company’s revenue now has 300,000 applications for the iOS platform. Altogether, the iPhone OS devices and the App Store are significant contributors in the earnings of Apple.
Android OS Statistics: The Android operating system runs many smartphones including handsets manufactured by HTC, Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson and many others. The market share of the Android OS is represented in the following bar diagram (Refer fig 1.3) on a year to year basis.
In year 2008, Android was a new operating system in the market launched in the month of October. It acquired a market share of 0.5 percent in just 3 months from its release. Android proved in the year 2009 that it was gaining more popularity among the consumers with its grand sales numbers and a 4.7 percent market share which is an enormous growth since the last year. There are many handsets makers that deploy Android OS which has been the advantage of the mobile platform because it has boosted the number of users. Many smartphones such as Google Nexus One manufactured by HTC, Motorola Droid and HTC Desire that run on Android OS were well acclaimed by users. The market share of Android continued to rise globally even in year 2010. The statistics for the first and second quarter are shown in the following graph. (Refer fig 1.4)
In the first quarter of 2010, the market share of Android was 9.6 percent and it was 14.2 percent in the second quarter. There is a growth of 47 percent on a quarter to quarter basis. The average market share for the first two quarters of 2010 comes to 11.9 percent which is a steep increase of more than 100 percent as compared to the previous year. The increase in the user base of Android in the last two years has had a significant impact on the revenues of Google. It has also boosted the business that the company gets from mobile internet users. Android Market, the online software store having more than 80,000 Android based applications, is another important contributor to the revenues of the company.
Inferences
The iPhone and Android operating systems have indeed been huge gainers in the market since their respective launch. Both the platforms have consistently shown a steep upside in their market shares where Android holds a better growth rate. But, even if Android’s growth percentage is greater, it does not affect the market share of iOS. In reality, Android is acquiring the share of other mobile platforms like BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm and Linux as more and more users are switching over to Android based phones. On the other hand, the craze that iPhone has created all over the world still acts a fuel to its growth. Besides, the release of iPhone OS 4.0 with multi-tasking feature from Apple helped the company to soar higher in the mobile operating systems market. An analysis of these statistics suggests that both iPhone and Android operating systems continue to create an extensive user base worldwide. The question that which operating system among the two is taking over the market share of the other does not seem to arise at all.
The Writer Ishan Tipre is Reporters at Application Nexus India and can be reached at ishan.t(at_the_rate)applicationnexus.com as well on his Facebook Page.
