Smartphone usage in the U.S. is on the rise and it looks like half of all mobile users in the States will be using smartphones by the end of 2011. As a matter of fact, about a third of mobile users in the U.S. currently own a smartphone whether it’s an iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian or Windows device.
According to comScore:
60.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in October, up 14 percent from the preceding three month period, representing 1 out of every 4 mobile subscribers.[...] Despite losing share to Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow.
That’s just about one-fifth of the nation’s population on smartphones, so it’s easily imaginable that half of mobile users alone would be using some kind of smartphone by the time 2011 is over. According to Asymco, “One in three of all phones in use will be either iOS or Android. That adds up to about 80 million users; up from 35 million today. Overall, 120 million Americans will be using smartphones.” The fact that iOS or Android will make up a third of all phones in use just shows how critical this year has been in making strides in the American smartphone usage. Microsoft admittedly missed the boat and skipped an entire generation.
via Half of U.S. Mobile Users Will Have Smartphones by Q4 2011.
The nice thing about the companies behind some of the most popular mobile applications, like Evernote, is that they get to see some interesting trends in the mobile space. Evernote CEO Phil Libin has seen tremendous growth with his app on the Android platform versus iPhone, and there may be some correlation with handset purchases and activations. Of course, it’s hard to say for sure, but at least we know that Android is catching up to the iPhone in terms of platform usage and app growth.
Libin says that in the last six months, Evernote downloads are up 1000% for Android, but only 150% for the iPhone. This puts the number of users on both Android and iOS platforms much closer to each other with the iPhone keeping a very marginal lead over Android.
As we saw in yesterday’s U.S. smartphone adoption forecasts, the Google mobile OS and iOS will have the lion’s share of the market by this time next year, virtually tying each other in terms of market share amongst smartphone users.
via Evernote CEO Talks Android and iOS, iPhone Growth and Usage.
Next Monday sees the release of the latest mobile phone to run Google’s Android operating system. The Motorola Milestone is a significant launch and is already being touted as an “iPhone killer”, not least because it will be the first handset to run Android 2.0, the very latest version of the software.
Android – the brainchild of search giant Google and a consortium of handset makers and component manufacturers – is finally beginning to realise its huge potential, and so too are consumers.
via The Motorola Milestone: will Google Androids take over in 2010? – Telegraph.
For executives and field personnel alike, there's a lot to like about smartphones: They're always present, they're always on, and increasingly, they're always reliably connected. So if your organization is using smartphones only for e-mail, it's missing a huge opportunity.
via Practical Analysis: Smartphones — Passion To Profit And Productivity — Practical Analysis.
Most BlackBerry owners, for example, know they can improve their Interstate I.Q. by using the navigation function of their smartphones, and people with a Web browser on their phone can check out World Traffic Cams to see if there is congestion at the Lincoln Tunnel before heading into Manhattan. Indeed, our love affair with cellphones is increasingly being coupled with our love affair with the automobile, spawning applications — some silly, some sublime — that drivers can download to their mobile handsets for little or no money.
On the practical side, there are programs that help with the more mundane aspects of automobile ownership. One free application for the iPhone, for example, tries to demystify repair bills. Tap in the make and model of your vehicle along with what ails it (for instance, worn brake pads and rotors) and RepairPal spits out estimated parts and labor costs ($417 to $516 in New York City). It does not include diagnostic fees and taxes, but it does offer a list of nearby repair shops with customer ratings, should you want to comparison shop.
Conversely, on the pure fun side, there’s Dynolicious. Using the same kind of technology that enables a Nintendo Wii game controller to follow your gestures, this $12.99 application uses an iPhone’s built-in accelerometer to gauge 0-to-60 times (to within 0.08 of a second) and other performance characteristics, including lateral G-forces. Like competing programs such as g-tac pro ($19.99), Dynolicious will also let you assess your vehicle’s top speed, but to get precise results you’ll need to secure the phone in a cradle.
via Technology – Have Smartphone, Can Travel – NYTimes.com.
According to In-Stat, smartphones are going to double their share of the mobile handset market in the next four years. Considering the success of devices such as the iPhone, the G1, and others, this isnt so hard to believe. But which platform will dominate?
Right now, smartphones still only account for about 10% of all mobile handsets sold. Theyre popular with business users, but their cost — and the cost of the data plans attached to them — continue to keep a large percentage of the market away. That is changing, says research firm In-Stat.
“Strong demand is being driven by device manufacturers leveraging open OS device[s] to re-invent the mobile phone experience,” said Frank Dickson, VP of Mobile Internet Group, in a prepared statement. “New and prospective smartphone buyers are drawn to new mobile applications, even though the median number of applications downloaded for all platforms, including the Apple iPhone, is relatively modest — below five applications per user for each platform.”
via Smartphones Set To Double Market Share – Mobile Blog – InformationWeek.
Who can keep track of all the touchscreen smartphones — and their attendant app stores — that emerged from Mobile World Congress this week to compete with Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone?
RBC Capital’s Mike Abramsky can. Attached to a report to clients released Friday is a handy chart of “emerging competitors” that covers most of the latest mobile operating systems: Palm’s (PALM) webOS, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows Mobile 6.5, Google’s (GOOG) Android, Nokia’s (NOK) Symbian S60 and couple of proprietary outliers.
The chart would be more realistic if it included the two smartphones battling most fiercely for the U.S. market: the iPhone and Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry.
via A taxonomy of iPhone competitors – Apple 2.0.
