Smartphone Race Tightens, Apple Leads
By Chris Weiss
According to newly released data from Nielsen, the smartphone race is tighter than ever with Apple enjoying a slight market share lead over competitors like Android and RIM (Blackberry). In fact, the competition is so tight, that Nielsen says it might be “too close to call.” And with 45 percent of recent buyers choosing a smartphone over a feature phone, smartphones in general are enjoying the race.
Nielsen’s data shows Apple iOS devices leading in market share with 28.6 percent, followed closely by RIM Blackberry OS with 26.1 percent and Android with 25.8 percent. Nielsen notes that RIM’s position falls within the margin of error of the other two, so it could actually be number 1 or number 3.
While Android may be lagging in total market share, it showed strong gains over the past six months, moving from 27.5 percent of acquisitions to over 40 percent. Meanwhile, RIM dropped from 35 percent to 19.2 percent, and Apple rose slightly from 20.9 percent to 26.9 percent.
Going into the New Year, it’s unclear who’ll take the lead. [via Nielsen Wire]
