Android loses ground to Apple in second quarter
Though still in top place, Android shed market share in the second quarter, while Apple's iOS gained ground, according to Strategy Analytics.
Android still owns more than half the U.S. smartphone business, but it declined in both shipments and market share in the second quarter.
Google's mobile OS grabbed a 56 chunk of the the market in the June quarter, down from 61 percent a year ago, according to a report released today by Strategy Analytics. Shipments fell to 13.4 million from 15.3 million in 2011's second quarter.
At the same time, the iPhone saw increased demand. Apple's smartphone market share surged to 33 percent last quarter from 23 percent a year ago. Shipments rose to 7.9 million from 5.9 million over the same period.
Apple revealed last week that it sold 26 million iPhones for the quarter. That proved lower than the 29 million anticipated by Wall Street but up 28 percent from the 20.3 million sold in the prior year's quarter. And with a new iPhone reportedly on the way in September, Apple is poised to witness a surge in demand in the coming months.
"Android remains the number one platform by volume in the United States, but its market share is approaching a peak and Apple iOS has been gaining ground," Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said in a statement. "Apple is rumored to be launching a new iPhone in the coming weeks, and that event, if it takes place, is going to heap even more pressure on Android in its home market."
In third place, BlackBerry continued to lose market share, dropping to 7 percent from 11 percent last year. Citing the new number as RIM's lowest level in years, Strategy Analyst blamed the downfall on "Blackberry's limited toushcreen smartphone portfolio and repeated delays to its new BB10 operating system."
Overall, U.S. smartphone shipments fell 5 percent in the second quarter to just under 24 million.
"This was one of the slowest growth rates ever experienced by the important U.S. smartphone market," Strategy Analytics associate director Alex Spektor said in a statement. "A volatile economy, maturing penetration of smartphones among contract mobile subscribers, and major operators tightening their upgrade policies to enhance profits were among the main causes of the slowdown."