Android is now outselling the iPhone, says NPD, a research firm.
The consumer research shop says U.S. sales of smartphones using Google’s Android operating system climbed past Apple in the first three months of this year. Google nabbed 28 percent of the market, while Apple claimed 21 percent, NPD says. BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIMM) still leads the market, with 36 percent.
The numbers look quite different than Comscore’s says Digital Daily, which showed Google with a 10 percent share in February, although, NPD is usually considered a reasonably accurate estimator of retail sales. Companies use NPD’s Mobile Phone Track to conduct granular analyses of sales by manufacturer, brand, retail channel, and wireless carrier.
There are good reasons for the differences between Comscore and NPD.
Comscore surveys people to ask them what type of phone they currently use.
NPD’s report looks at what was sold during a specific quarter.
Both are valid assessments of the market. If NPD’s number’s hold up and Android continues to grow market share, it will eventually be reflected in Comscore’s numbers, but there will always be a lag.
Left by Jason Grigsby on May 10th, 2010