Google's Android Army Seems Unstoppable

They look like me...but they are not...me.

In spite of big numbers posted by Apple, Android smart phones outpaced iPhone during 1Q2012, more than doubling Google's market-share in some countries.

Meanwhile, Windows Phone has made some long-promised gains, the most notable being in Germany (6% share, + 3 pts.). Microsoft's mobile platform now sits at 3-4% share in the United States, France, Italy and Great Britain (United Kingdom).

Here's a quick sampling of the significant numbers...

Figures are for smart phones ('smartphones'), only, during the 12-week period ending March 18, 2012. Parenthetical amounts show change as +/-, for increase/decrease.

Android / iOS:
US market-share

Android          47.6 (-   6.6 pts.)
Apple             43.0 (+ 12.8 pts.)

Android:
European market-share

Australia          52.0  (+  20.0 pts.)
France              54.6  (+  17.0 pts.)
Germany          61.8  (+  27.2 pts.)
Great Britain   50.1  (+    5.5 pts.)
Italy                   48.5  (+  29.3 pts.)
Spain                72.0  (+  40.0 pts.)

So, where did Android phones find the extra share-points? As previously, they took it from Nokia's Symbian (down 6 to 36 points in every country) and BlackBerry, with RiM's phones plummeting from a 9% worldwide market-share down to just 3%.

Interestingly, the report shows Android smartphones now dominate the UK market. During Q1, Android outsold iPhone by a huge margin: 49.9% to 18.5%. Samsung and HTC split 86% of all UK Android sales, while Sony and LG models lag well behind.

Kantar also notes that for the first time, a majority of mobile customers in the UK (57%) and Australia (53.1%) now own smartphones. In the USA and most other countries, smartphone adoption is just 30%-40%. A fine showing by the Commonwealth. :-)

via: Kantar