Goodbye to the days of a plurality victory for Android in the smartphone marketshare. For the second quarter of 2011, Android accounted for 52 percent of units sold.
Apple’s iPhone iOS platform saw a modest quarterly gain rising to 29 percent in Q2. BlackBerry OS share, however, fell to 11 percent, as Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, and webOS held steady at less than five percent of the market each, NPD Group a market research company – reports in its latest findings.
“Google’s acquisition of Motorola shifts the balance of power in the handset-patent conflict between Google and its operating system competitors,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. “Android’s momentum has made for a large pie that is attractive to Motorola’s Android rivals, even if they must compete with their operating system developer.”
Motorola’s overall mobile phone market share declined 3 percentage points, from 12 percent in Q2 2010 to 9 percent in Q2 2011, the report notes. The company’s share of the smartphone market also declined from 15 percent to 12 percent.
Motorola’s year-over-year unit share of Android OS sales halved from 44 percent in Q2 of last year to 22 percent in Q2 of 2011, as Samsung and LG both experienced substantial gains, NPD concluded.
