Verizon tops among Android carriers; AT&T gaining
The carrier has a dominant lead over other carriers in terms of Android traffic, but its share has dropped 10 percent since March.
In North America, Verizon is still favored among Android handset buyers.
According to advertising firm Chitika, which analyzed mobile Web traffic this month, 41 percent of Android handsets that accessed the Web were running on Verizon's network. Sprint came in second in Chitika's study with 25.7 percent share. T-Mobile and AT&T followed with 16 percent and 8.7 percent market share, respectively.
What's more, four of the top five most popular Android smartphones this month--the Motorola Droid X, HTC Droid Incredible, Samsung Fascinate, and Motorola Droid--were running on Verizon's network. Chitika didn't say which device rounded out the top five.
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Although Verizon is still leading the way in the Android space, Chitika said that the company's market share "is clearly down." In March, Chitika performed the same study, and found that Verizon led the way with 51.4 percent market share. Sprint and T-Mobile held steady with 25.3 percent and 16.8 percent market share, respectively.
However, over the last several months, AT&T has been the big winner in the Android market. In March, the company had just 3.6 percent share. Chitika said in a blog post yesterday that the HTC Inspire has helped AT&T boost its market share.
Looking ahead, the carrier might also benefit from its proposed merger with T-Mobile USA. Earlier this year, AT&T announced that it had agreed to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. If the deal is approved next year and all things remain constant, AT&T would then own about 25 percent of the Android market, according to Chitika's figures.