Android also gains, but remains behind old hands

The iPhone has made slight gains in US smartphone marketshare, apparently at the expense of BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices, a new Nielsen study reveals. Between Q4 2009 and Q1 2010, the iPhone rose 2 percent in the market to hit 28 percent. BlackBerries have retained their dominance, but nevertheless slipped 2 percent quarter-over-quarter to sit at 35 percent. Windows Mobile phones have lost similar ground, and now account for 19 percent.

Likewise eating into BlackBerry and Windows share is Google's Android platform, which rose 2 percent in Q1 to represent 9 percent of the market. Palm-, Linux- and Symbian-based devices have held flat, figuring for just 4, 3 and 2 percent of smartphones. Ownership of smartphones continues to increase in general, up 2 points quarter-over-quarter to 23 percent of all handsets.

Nielsen remarks that iPhone owners tend to be more proportionately male than Android ones, with a 55/45 male/female split versus Android's 54/46. iPhone owners are also more likely to be rich, as some 40 percent of them earn over $100,000 a year, next to just 28 percent with Android. Age is said to play a factor, as while 55 percent of Android users are less than 34 years old, only 47 percent of iPhone users can say the same. Income and education levels tend to increase with age, Nielsen observes.

Critically, the iPhone is said to have an edge in loyalty. Though 70 percent of Android phone owners say they would like to continue using the same platform on their next device, the figure is 80 percent with the iPhone. Only 7 percent of current iPhone owners say they want to switch to Android, whereas 14 percent of Android users would like to migrate to an iPhone.

A new iPhone is expected to be announced later today, sometime after 10AM Pacific time, the start of Apple's WWDC keynote.

By Electronista Staff