It’s official! Android is now rated the most popular operating system amongst consumers who purchased a smartphone over the past six months.
Meanwhile, according to Nielsen, BlackBerry (RIM) and Apple iOS are locked in a “statistical” dead head for second place. Nevertheless, Blackberry still holds the dominant market share at 31 percent, though its lead over Apple is rapidly declining.
Indeed, twenty-eight percent of smartphone owners currently have Apple iPhones, compared to 19 percent who boast Android devices.
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So, what does all this mean for Android and the burgeoning smartphone market?
Well, Jennifer Valentino-DeVries of the Wall Street Journal notes that Android’s meteoric rise puts significant pressure on Apple to make its iPhone available on US carriers besides AT&T.
“Customers who are reluctant to use AT&T now have more options, and Apple is currently ceding that market segment to Android,” explained DeVries.
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“Back when Apple was the only game in town, it clearly held the upper hand in negotiations with carriers.
“[And] Verizon has long said it wanted to carry the iPhone. But now, with Android, such a deal might be more important for Apple than it is for Verizon.”