Posted on 05/10/2010 11:24:56 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
* Google's Android OS in 28 pct of U.S. smartphones in Q1
* Apple U.S. iPhone share 21 pct in Q1
* Research in Motion retains No. 1 rank with 36 pct share
SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) displaced iPhone maker Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to become the second most popular provider of smartphone software in the United States during the first quarter, the latest sign of the increasing competition in the fast-growing mobile market.
Smartphones featuring Google's Android operating system accounted for 28 percent of U.S. smartphone unit sales in the first quarter according to NPD Group, behind top-ranked Research in Motion (RIM.TO), maker of the Blackberry phone, which had a 36 percent share of the market.
Smartphones, which allow consumers to surf the web, send email and run specialized applications on wide, color screens, are increasingly replacing no-frills cell phones for many U.S. consumers.
The devices have become a prime battleground for a variety of tech companies seeking to ensure a good position in the evolving market.
Last month, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ.N) said it would pay $1.2 billion to acquire Palm Inc (PALM.O), which sells two smartphone models based on its WebOS operating system. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), whose Windows operating system is used in the majority of the world's PCs, unveiled a pair of smartphones last month and recently launched a revamped version of its mobile operating system.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Thanks for all of your replies. They’re much appreciated.
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Revisionist history Smokingjoe! Apple offered the iPhone first to Verizon. Verizon wanted to make all of the iPhone features available ala carte. You want Internet? That's extra? Visual voice mail? Extra! iTunes? Extra charge! Email? Extra! Notepad app? Buy it from Verizon. And they refused to upgrade their system to what was necessary to handle the iPhone.
AT&T agreed to an all in one price for everything and agreed to spend the money to upgrade their system.
Bingo!
Yes, and tried to charge them an arm and a leg for that "privilege". Verizon wasn't having none of that. Those are the “intolerable conditions” I was talking about.
As it is, Verizon is now doing quite well with the Android phones, especially the new HTC Incredible smart-phones, without the paying the King's ransom that Apple was asking before for their iPhone. Competition, and the free markets are wonderful things.
If Android is free, how does Google make any money with it?
Look how much it was costing AT&T at the time.
“October 24, 2007 1:03 PM PDT
Piper Jaffray: AT&T paying Apple $18 per iPhone, per month
The exact details of AT&T's revenue-sharing agreement with Apple have not been disclosed, but one analyst thinks that over the two-year life of a user contract, the amount exceeds the actual price of the iPhone.
Silicon Alley Insider spotted a research note from Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster estimating that Apple is receiving $18 per month for each iPhone subscriber, under the revenue-sharing agreement between the two companies. Apple has confirmed that such an agreement exists, but has not shared the details about exactly how much cash it's getting from the revenue AT&T makes on iPhone customers using the carrier's data network.
-snip-
iPhone users on AT&T's data network could be giving Apple as much as $18 a month under their revenue-sharing agreement.
-snip-
That would mean that over the life of a two-year contract, AT&T will pay Apple $432 per iPhone subscriber. Silicon Alley Insider adds the $400 in revenue per iPhone and uses iSuppli’s cost estimates to calculate a $565 profit per iPhone over a two-year period. I'm a little wary of those iSuppli numbers myself (they don't really account for things like research and development costs), but the exact number isn't really the point: Apple has a huge incentive to make sure iPhones stay on AT&T's network, even if Munster's numbers aren't perfect.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9803657-37.html
Apple was taking $400 from AT&T for the iPhone itself, as well as another approx $18 per month from AT&T for every single iPhone subscriber. No surprise Apple's profits just kept getting fatter. Verizon wasn't ready for that kind of servitude.
I have T-Mobile so mine is called Android but I’d rather have an iPhone...except for the AT&T problem. It’s handy but I don’t love it and it does wierd things - like shuffling my contact names and phone numbers. For instance an upholsterer I’ve been dealing with now shows up as my son.
Mobile search, which Google wants to control.
That and completely forget the name of the caller you’ve had programmed in for years?! And just show you the number?
Of course, the head of Verizon has recently said they would love to have the iPhone.
Wasn’t the big thing the upgrade to handle visual voicemail?
How much was “an arm and a leg” exactly? The phone sold unsubsidized out the gate if I remember right.
They don’t. They don’t. It’s a platform for their core business which consists of advertising, analytics, and data aggregation.
On condition of much better terms from Apple than they originally offered a few years back. Right now, Verizon(and everyone else) are cruising happily with Android, so Apple can't impose their onerous terms on anybody anymore.
“How much was “an arm and a leg” exactly? The phone sold unsubsidized out the gate if I remember right”
Read my post # 48.
Visual voicemail? Verizon has had Visual Voicemail available on every phone they have made for probably the last 5 years. Not worth $1.99 a month to me. Verizon's network is vastly superior in terms of architecture to AT&T's. The only upgrade they are doing is upgrading metropolitan areas to 4G. Don't take my word for it. Stock analysts that compare the two have said Verizon's network and coverage is superior going forward for a few years now.
If your prefer Verizon to AT&T
Yeah, no one picked up the iPhone when exclusivity ended in Europe....
Now Luis the upholster’s name shows up alongside my son’s number - who lives in a totally different area code. My son’s wife’s name now is showing with the phone number to our airplane hangar...etc.
etc. etc.
Wake me when any single Android phone passes the single iPhone currently being sold.
The real losers are Symbian and Microsoft. Apple’s doing just fine, haters.
And free to lock up, hard restart, and software conflict to your heart's content!
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