Users of the iPhone are in higher income brackets and are more likely to stick with the iPhone OS with their next phone – and this was before the official unveiling of iPhone 4.
According to Nielsen, 23 percent of all mobile subscribers owned a smart phone in the first quarter of 2010, up from 21 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, 18 percent in the third quarter of 2009 and 16 percent in the second quarter of 2009.
In the U.S., RIM’s BlackBerry OS owned 35 percent of the market in the first quarter of the year, down 2 percent from the previous quarter.
Apple’s iPhone OS owned 28 percent of the market, up 2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Windows Mobile owned 19 percent of the market, down 2 percent from the prior quarter. Android held 9 percent of the market, up 2 percent.
Palm OS (4 percent), Linux (3 percent) and Symbian OS (2 percent) rounded out the smart-phone market in the first quarter, according to Nielsen.
Fifty-four percent of Android users were male in the first quarter, while 55 percent of iPhone users were male. For all smart phone users, 54 percent were male.
On the income front, 64 percent of Android users earned $50,000+, with 28 percent earning $100,000+. For iPhone users, 78 percent earned $50,000+, with 40 percent earning $100,000+. Overall, 71 percent of smart-phone users earned $50,000+.
“Perhaps what sets iPhone and Android apart from the rest of the field of smartphones is operating system loyalty,” writes Don Kellogg, senior manager, research and insights/telecom practice at Nielsen.
While 70 percent of current Android users say they desire an Android device as their next phone, 80 percent of iPhone users said the same. Fourteen percent of current Android users want an iPhone the next time around, compared to 7 percent of iPhone users who want an Android device the next time around.
Nielsen also looked at the different data features used by Android and iPhone users. While Android owners were heavier users of text messaging/SMS, mobile Internet, picture messaging/MMS, location-based services/GPS, pre-installed games, text alerts, uploads, picture downloads, instant messaging, streaming online music/mobile radio, ringtone downloads, video/mobile TV, wallpaper/screensaver downloads and video messaging, iPhone users were more active with e-mail, app downloads, game downloads, mobile commerce, full track music downloads, online game playing and VoIP programs.
According to comScore, Samsung was the top mobile OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for the three months ending April in the U.S., with 22.1 percent of the market, followed by LG with 21.8 percent, Motorola with 21.6 percent, RIM with 8.4 percent and Nokia with 8.1 percent.
Verizon was the top mobile operator with 31.1 percent of the market, followed by AT&T with 25.2 percent, Sprint with 12.0 percent, T-Mobile with 12.0 percent and Tracfone with 5.1 percent.
Sources:
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/iphone-vs-android/
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/6/comScore_Reports_April_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share
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