I love my iPhone 3GS to bits. I admire the functionality, the look and the feel. I have a Volkswagen and my iPhone conveniently plugs into the built-in charger in the glove compartment (feature of the car – really sweet). I will always be an iPhone girl (well until next month anyhow). In the last few months there have been many reports indicating that devices with the Android OS are sneaking up in the stats race. They are slowly, but steadily, eating some iPhone and BlackBerry market share. Initially I thought, “Nah..won’t happen. Droid OS devices are purchased by developers who are devoted to Google and open source.” Well, there must be a lot of those, because Android is becoming a serious contender…maybe. Or is it all speculation?

First of all, let’s get it straight. Android is not a device. It is an Operating System that resides on a device. This can “skew” results a little when looking at the recent market share articles claiming that iPhone is eating Android dust. Whereas iPhone is one device with one Operating System, Android is one Operating System with multi devices. In 2010 there were 30 phones released with the Android OS. Therefore, when the Gartner people are predicting an Android hostile takeover by 2014, it is due in part to the fact that the OS will reside on so many phones. Keep in mind that multiple devices equal multiple user experiences and functionality ranges. This poses it’s own issues (check with RIM), but I won’t get into it with this post.

Apples love Interwebs

Funny little thing though, Android users aren’t browsing the web much. Quantcast released a North American report illustrating popular mobile browsing Operating Systems. The answer still remains iOS. iPhone/iPod and iPad users still make up 56 percent of mobile browsing. Android stats show a very sharp increase at around 25 percent, while the iOS numbers show a slow but steady decline. The one little device of contention for Android is the iPad. With over 2.3 million units sold a month in North America, the iOS is remaining the top browsing iOS. iPad users love to browse the web.

Are Androids eating BlackBerries?

RIM is still a contender that isn’t going away. RIM holds the corporate marketshare. They are an enterprise level device for business users. As long as corporate exists and RIM upholds its end of the security deal, BlackBerry should still hog the business markets. Perhaps a large number of employees would prefer an HTC running the Android OS, or a shiny iPhone 4, but reality grabs ahold of purchasing agents within corporate North America and many agree that iPhone or Android doesn’t provide the requirements that a Business Enterprise Solution from RIM would.

For now, I will hold my iPhone 3GS close to my heart. If Steve Jobs continues to be a pompous ass that is focusing on other things besides market share, an Android device just might sneak up and bite my Apple where it counts. Stranger things have happened.

Happy Apping .

Kelly