Android and iPhone Own Nearly The Entire U.S. Smartphone Market

The latest data from Nielsen suggests that between the two of them, Android and Apple's iOS have relegated other smartphone operating systems to sub-single digit market share. The closest competitor -- RIM's Blackberry -- counted only 5% of U.S. smartphone purchases in the past three months. Other operating systems, including Windows Phone, Symbian, HP/Palm's WebOS and others, added up to only 4% share combined.

Smartphone OS share

Overall, Android continues to lead the smartphone market in the U.S., with 48 percent of smartphone owners saying they owned an Android OS device. Nearly a third (32.1%) of smartphone users have an Apple iPhone, and Blackberry owners represented another 11.6 percent of the smartphone market. Among recent acquirers who got their smartphone within the last three months, 48 percent of those surveyed in February said they chose an Android and 43 percent bought an iPhone.

Android's performance is pretty constant, with 48% of existing smartphone owners and 48% of new smartphone purchasers choosing Android phones.

Apple's iPhone has been more popular of late, with the recent release of the iPhone 4S. The iPhone is the device of choice for 32% of current smartphone owners, but has made up 43% of recent smartphone purchases -- entirely at the expense of BlackBerry and the other small-share operating systems.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
Tesla Charging

Tesla Working to Add Apple CarPlay Support to Vehicles

Thursday November 13, 2025 8:31 am PST by
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...

Top Rated Comments

NYR99 Avatar
178 months ago
Don't you think the Windows phone is going to start to have a growing market share? Microsoft has deep pockets and I suspect they will support it very strongly.

Right.... just like the Zune.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrono1081 Avatar
178 months ago
I guess "Research In Motion" didn't research enough to stay on top ;)

I'm actually glad to see this, supporting Blackberries always sucked where as supporting iOS and Android are very easy.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
178 months ago
How so, The android OS predates iOS, as google purchased the company that produced it. Its based on linux, has a completely different UI, filesystem and SDK. So what exactly did google copy iOS?

Release date. Don't you know that anything released after a certain product is automatically branded a copy? :D

Why didn't Google announce an amazing new OS and phone on January 9, 2007?

Because it didn't exist.

You gotta remember... the mobile phone industry was pretty stale back then. Just 2 days before Apple's iPhone announcement... Palm announced yet another crappy Treo. Yikes.

Google didn't even announce Android and the whole Open Handset Alliance until 11 months after Apple announced the iPhone... and the first Android phone didn't come out until 22 months after the iPhone was first announced.

Strange timing indeed.

Who knows what Google would have done if it wasn't for the iPhone... they were sitting on Android since 2005.

I would feel better for Android if there were Android phones before the iPhone... and Android tablets before the iPad.

But there weren't. Apple jumpstarted this new mobile revolution. Everything afterwards... you decide.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
summitRun Avatar
178 months ago
That 5% number for RIM is mind blowing. Has any company squandered/mis-managed a brand (in N America) worse than they have in the past 5 years? I cant think of one. Very sad as I WAS a 6 year BB owner :(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B777Forevar Avatar
178 months ago
Expect to see WP7 to make a dent in those stats this year. Especially with the Lumia 900 coming out soon.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
inreasonsimage Avatar
178 months ago
I hope WP7 fails, and puts a hole in Microsoft's deep pockets. I just hate MS for failing to improve Windows. You still see blue screens of death. They still have the registry system which slows down installs/updates. Windows Update takes forever and sometimes errors out. Mac OS updates are quick and always finish (crossing fingers :)).

RIM is just waiting to be bought by Apple, Google, or MS. They are done. They had 5 years to do something but they haven't done anything.

Where do you see these blue screens of death? I haven't a blue screen of death since Windows 98. Which version of Windows are you using?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)