Android Gaining Ground on iPhone as App Platform

Android seems to be emerging rather quickly as a "number two" choice for mobile device application development, a new analysis by comScore suggests.

“With handsets on multiple carriers, from multiple manufacturers, and numerous Android device models expected to be in the U.S. market by January, the Android platform is rapidly shaking up the smartphone market,” says Mark Donovan, comScore SVP. “While iPhone continues to set the bar with its App Store and passionate user base, and RIM remains the leader among the business set, Android is clearly gaining momentum among developers and consumers.”

Of those American consumers in the market for a smartphone, 17 percent are considering the purchase of an Android-supported device in next three months, compared to 20 percent indicating they plan to purchase an iPhone.

Although Android’s share of the smartphone market is relatively small, it has quickly doubled in the past year to 3.5 percent in October 2009.

An analysis of mobile media consumption on smartphones suggests that users of both Apple and Android-supported devices are more likely to engage with mobile media than an average smartphone user.

Users of the Apple iPhone were most likely to consume mobile media, with 94 percent of users doing so in September 2009, while 92 percent of Android device users, predominantly T-Mobile G1 users, engaged in mobile media activities, 12 percentage points higher than an average smartphone user and far higher than the 26 percent use of mobile media by feature phone users.

Apple and Android users were equally likely to engage with news using their browser and are nearly identical in their mobile application engagement. About 80 percent of both iPhone and Android users say they access news using their device browsers. About 83 percent of Apple users and 82 percent of Android users say they use downloaded apps.

Some 58 percent of iPhone users say they use mobile social networking, compared to 52 percent of Android users. About 43 percent of iPhone users use instant messaging while 46 percent of Android users say they use mobile IM.

Email is an area where Android and iPhone behavior is distinct. Apple iPhone users (87 percent) are far more likely to use email on their devices than Android users (63 percent).

Google’s Android platform has continued to gain awareness among U.S. consumers. In August 2009, just 22 percent of mobile users had heard of the Android, while in November 2009 this figure had reached 37 percent, largely prompted by the Verizon Droid advertising campaign launched in the fall.

The comScore study found that not only is general awareness increasing about Android, but intent to purchase an Android-supported device is also increasing among mobile phone users.

When mobile users were asked in November 2009 which phone they planned to buy in the next three months, 17 percent of respondents in the market for a new smartphone said they planned to purchase an Android-supported device, with 8 percent of those planning to purchase a Verizon Droid, compared to 20 percent of respondents who said they planned to purchase an iPhone during that same time period.

In comparison, when survey respondents answered this same question in August 2009, only seven percent indicated an intent to purchase either the T-Mobile G1 or the T-Mobile MyTouch -- which were the only Android-supported phones available at the time -- while 21 percent of respondents planned to purchase an iPhone in the next three months.