A quick trip to your local Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Sprint or T-Mobile
store is all it takes to find evidence that Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG)
Android platform is quickly joining the ranks of big-league smartphone
platforms. But while the most visible evidence of Android's rise comes
from the high-profile phone launches provided by Motorola (NYSE: MOT),
HTC, and Samsung (not to mention Google itself), the statistical proof
is even more impressive. Here are a few of the most recent examples:
* comScore reported last week that Android's share of U.S.
smartphone users soared from 3.8% in November 2009 to 9% in February
2010. This compares with a 1.3 percentage point increase for Research
In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) BlackBerrys, a 0.1 point decline for
Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhones, a 1.8 point decline for Palm's
(Nasdaq: PALM) devices, and a 4.0 point decline for Microsoft's
(Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Mobile phones. comScore's numbers usually need
to be taken with a grain of salt -- RIM's share increase is surprising
given the North American weakness reported during its last earnings
report -- but swings as large as the ones attributed to Android and
Windows Mobile almost certainly have some validity to them.
* Mobile advertising firm AdMob, which was acquired by Google last
year, reported that the percentage of its U.S. ad impressions that
went to Android devices jumped from 27% in November to 42% in
February. During the same time, the iPhone's share of ad impressions
fell from 55% to 44%. Worldwide, Android's share of AdMob impressions
grew to 24%, up from just 2% a year earlier.
* AndroLib.com counted 9,117 new apps as being added to Android
Market in March. That number reflects a 65% jump from the 5,530 apps
added in February, and, combined with the 3,746 apps already counted
for April, brings the store's total number of available apps to nearly
44,000. While Apple remains the market leader with over 185,000 apps
being reported for the iTunes App Store, the momentum that developers
are providing to Android Market isn't something that Apple supporters
can taken lightly.
Android still has plenty of kinks to work out. Google badly needs to
develop a PC application for Android that can rival Apple's iTunes in
allowing users to easily sync their media files and shop for apps.
This is needed not only to make life easier for Android users, but
also to give developers more confidence that the cool Android app
they're working on will get discovered, and turn into a money-maker.
Moreover, while Google is taking some encouraging steps to stem
concerns about Android hardware and operating system fragmentation
leading to serious problems with app compatibility, we have to wait
and see just how successful they are.
But even with its lingering weaknesses, the numbers are painting
Android to be a clear success story. If the rest of 2010 plays out the
way the first months have, the operating system won't be portrayed as
an upstart challenger to the iPhone by the end of the year, but a
full-fledged equal.
http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2010/04/12/androids-numbers-keep-pointing-up.aspx
--
Salam,
Agus Hamonangan
http://groups.google.com/group/id-android
Gtalk : agus.hamonangan
Tweet :@agushamonangan
Japri : [email protected]
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