Is this where Apple’s reluctance to develop devices for different price ranges comes back to bite them? I mean, a quick look at the Apple stock prices means you don’t need to shed a tear for them, but the fact that Apple ranks just above Motorola in terms of US mobile device users is, at the very least, surprising.
The fact that both Samsung and LG significantly outrank Apple only adds to it.
Thanks to the latest comScore Mobile Market Share report, we find that not only do the Apple challengers have a healthy share of the US Mobile Market, Google’s Android OS also has a strong lead on iOS. Granted, this is directly related to the multiple device support Android features, but the fact remains: Android has close to a 20 percent lead on Apple’s iOS. comScore’s tables. First, the top manufacturers:
The operating system market share:
As for activities, it’s pretty clear very few people use their cellphones, er, mobile devices to make calls anymore. By far, the most popular activity in the United States when it comes to mobile devices is text messaging. By a wide, wide margin. The other activities include downloading apps, using the mobile browser, mobile social media use, playing games, and listening to music. Apparently, “making a phone call” is a given or something that’s just not that popular anymore. While the former makes the most sense, I’m still leaning towards the latter:
What, exactly, are some conclusions that you can draw from this data? First, if iOS was usable on more devices than just Apple, who knows where the market share numbers would be? But then again, using Apple’s operating system on a non-Apple device just wouldn’t be right, would it? Does the fact that Samsung and LG make cheaper devices than Apple play a part here? Undoubtedly, but there’s also the distinct possibility that not everyone in the US wants an iPhone, either.
The numbers reflect all of that.
