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

apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 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. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
New Intel Logo

Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

Friday November 28, 2025 7:33 am PST by
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027. Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Thursday November 27, 2025 3:14 am PST by
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia. Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production. Apple supplier Foxconn has...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Black Friday iPhone Deals Still Available

Friday November 28, 2025 6:24 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...

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)