Apple retained its crown as the number one handset manufacturer among consumers in the U.S., while Google's Android operating system remained the number one platform, according to comScore's latest MobiLens and Mobile Metrix reports. These figures measure smartphone ownership and cover the three months ending January 2014.
Apple beat out rival Samsung with 41.6 percent market share as compared to Samsung's 26.7 percent. When comparing changes over the measured periods, Apple, Samsung and LG made small gains, while Motorola and HTC fell. Apple's market share continues to grow, but its rate of adoption is slowing.
Apple may be the top handset maker, but iOS is outnumbered by the volume of Android phones on the market. Apple's iOS platform was number two with 41.6 percent of the smartphone market, while Google's Android OS was number one with 51.7 percent market share in the recently ended period.
iOS was only the platform to gain ground in the three-month period, inching up from 40.6 percent in the period ending October 2013 to 41.6 percent in the most recent period. Android and BlackBerry lost ground, with each platform dropping 0.5 percentage points.
comScore measures both ownership and usage across a customer's primary smartphone and tablet. It uses an intelligent online survey as well as both panel and census-based measurement methods to compile its data.
while I find those numbers always very interesting - it is also amusing to look at different outlets reporting very different outcomes, always massaged to show what the core readership wants to read (or which message the author wants to send).
As usual, depending on how you look at the numbers, you can read almost anything in them, e.g. looking at manufactures vs OS vs devices (and even there it depends on what do you include in which group).
Bottom line: everyone is doing just fine, nobody is doomed and people have the choice and can buy devices based on there preferences and needs. So it is good news for everyone, even though many try to read bad news for some into it.
Could be that people who jumped ship just to try out Android are probably realizing that the grass isn't quite so greener on the other side and are slowly trickling back to iOS's great user experience, Apple's excellent customer service, and the richness of the App Store.
I jumped ship from android after 3 years, to ios (loving ios BTW), after getting sick of google being constantly in my face with Google+, eliminating drag&drop to SD, trying to do away with SD cards completely, doing away with privacy, taking away features with each update, and never ending lag issues. I hope to someday have a pure open source phone but until that day I guess I'll stay with ios. Google can go fsck themselves.
Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users by tracking push notifications that move through Google's and Apple's servers, a US senator warned on Wednesday (via Reuters). In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from the tech giants to track smartphones. The traffic flowing from apps that send push notifications...
Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:28 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware update for both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPods Pro 2. The new firmware is version 6B34, up from the 6B32 firmware introduced in November. Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware beyond "bug fixes and other improvements," so it is unclear what's new in the update, but prior software releases ...
Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:04 am PST by Juli Clover
The iOS 17.2 update that Apple is set to release to the public in the near future will bring support for the next-generation Qi2 wireless charging standard to the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models. Qi2 was mentioned in the release notes for the RC version of the update that came out today. With the addition of support for the new standard, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models will work with Qi2...
Wednesday December 6, 2023 2:03 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's Korean suppliers have begun developing smartphone under-display cameras (UDC), paving the way for the first iPhone with a true "all-screen" appearance. According to The Elec, LG Innotek has entered the preliminary development of the UDC, which sits under the display and does not result in a visible hole in the panel when the camera is not in use. A UDC differs from a typical front ...
Today we're tracking a collection of deals that are matching - or nearly matching - the same all-time low discounts we saw during Black Friday. This includes the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, 9th generation iPad, and M1 MacBook Air. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the ...
Tuesday December 5, 2023 1:57 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
Tuesday December 5, 2023 4:18 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple has asked the Indian government to exempt existing iPhones from new rules that require smartphones sold in the country to have a USB-C charging port, reports Reuters. India wants to replicate an upcoming European Union rule that requires all smartphones to implement the USB-C charging standard. However, according to a new report, Apple has told India its local production targets will...
Top Rated Comments
As usual, depending on how you look at the numbers, you can read almost anything in them, e.g. looking at manufactures vs OS vs devices (and even there it depends on what do you include in which group).
Bottom line: everyone is doing just fine, nobody is doomed and people have the choice and can buy devices based on there preferences and needs. So it is good news for everyone, even though many try to read bad news for some into it.
You win two apple pies for providing us with a random and stupid comment.
Android is not one thing. Android is not one vendor. Android is not compatible with Android.
iOS is one thing. iOS is all by Apple.
So, if we were to redo that chart in an honest manner it would be Apple at the top and way down below them would be all the little Android cloners.
I see iPhones, iPads and iPodTouches all around. I almost never see Androids.
I jumped ship from android after 3 years, to ios (loving ios BTW), after getting sick of google being constantly in my face with Google+, eliminating drag&drop to SD, trying to do away with SD cards completely, doing away with privacy, taking away features with each update, and never ending lag issues. I hope to someday have a pure open source phone but until that day I guess I'll stay with ios. Google can go fsck themselves.