Another day, another report on the fast-paced smartphone market. The NPD Group today published its latest report on smartphone OS market share, with Android remaining the clear winner when compared with last year’s results.
The report focused on data concerning Q3 2010 and indicate that Android has seen substantial year-over-year gains, while Apple’s iOS remained flat and Blackberry continues its fall from the top. In Q3 2009, Android held just 3% of all smartphones sales in the US, putting it last on the list in terms of the big three, while RIM was still flying hight with 46% of smartphone sales in the US.
What a difference a year makes. Android has now skyrocketed to the number one position with 44% of US smartphone sales, while RIM moves into third place with just 22% of the market — less than half of what it saw just a year prior. Apple, meanwhile, has remained steady in the number two spot with 23% of the market — down from 29% in Q3 2009.
While these numbers show Android as the clear winner, the logistics behind the open source OS make it an unfair comparison to both RIM and iOS. Things will undoubtedly change when and if the Verizon iPhone is introduced, and newcomers like Windows Phone and an updated version of WebOS emerge.
