Android now powers 51.8% of US smartphones, growth continues

[dmapr]

Popular analyst company Nielsen has published its report on the US smartphone market in the second quarter of 2012. The quarter saw smartphone growth continue as two thirds of all new customers picked a smartphone.

Android continues to be in lead, powering 51.8% of all US smartphones and 54.6% of the ones purchased over the past three months. And that was the quarter before the Samsung Galaxy S III was launched.

Full article with charts.

[RadioRaiders]

Wow, I'm stunned how poor Nokia/WP7 is doing. I really thought they'd have been grabbing more market share by now. Nokia makes solid hardware, and the WP interface is pretty slick. And there was a big push from AT&T and Microsoft. But STILL it's not taking hold. Man, I wouldn't want to be in Elops shoes right now I think MS will keep throwing money at it until it has some measure of success, even if it's still kind of bombs. Like Bing.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Lots of folks like me were die hard WIndows Mobile fans, but Microsoft treated us all like crap the way they handled the transition from WM 6.5 to WP7. They announced WP7's development 2 months after I bought my HTC Pure. Too late to exchange it for something else, and all 6.5 software development stopped. I was stuck with a phone nobody would support for about 15 months.

[Charlyee]

Wow, I'm stunned how poor Nokia/WP7 is doing. I really thought they'd have been grabbing more market share by now. Nokia makes solid hardware, and the WP interface is pretty slick. And there was a big push from AT&T and Microsoft. But STILL it's not taking hold. Man, I wouldn't want to be in Elops shoes right now I think MS will keep throwing money at it until it has some measure of success, even if it's still kind of bombs. Like Bing.

I am very surprised as well. The OS is slick and smooth and my Nokia gets coverage where none of my previous smartphones did. It has great built quality as well and anyone that got a WP7 is very happy with it. Nokia support is stellar also.

AT&T did not support it the way they did the succession of iPhones, within a couple months after the launch, they moved on and put their support behind the HTC One X

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

[RadioRaiders]

Lots of folks like me were die hard WIndows Mobile fans, but Microsoft treated us all like crap the way they handled the transition from WM 6.5 to WP7. They announced WP7's development 2 months after I bought my HTC Pure. Too late to exchange it for something else, and all 6.5 software development stopped. I was stuck with a phone nobody would support for about 15 months.

Reading this article about the Lumia 900 being "stuck" at WP7.8 and not being given a full upgrade to WP8 seems to echo what you just said:
AT&T halves Nokia Lumia 900 price (but will WP7.8 scare buyers off?) - SlashGear

Microsoft officially announced Windows Phone 8 last month, but at the same time confirmed that owners of existing devices wouldn’t get an upgrade to the new platform. Instead, they’d get a halfway house measure – Windows Phone 7.8 - with the same UI but none of the underlying advantages or, indeed, the commitment to future upgrades beyond that point.

That leaves the Lumia 900 as something of an evolutionary dead-end, a fact which may well have encouraged AT&T to halve the price of the smartphone. The Finnish company is unsurprisingly working on new WP8 Lumia devices, but they’re not expected until later in 2012.

I think consumers are starting to get ticked off in the same way Jay did: you buy a phone and a couple of months later it's OS has no further development plans and is "stuck".

However, on the one hand, if you buy a phone and there is no promise that the mfgr will upgrade it, you shouldn't assume it will get any upgrades and be prepared to live with the OS it has. But on the other hand, if a mfgr sells a phone and the OS becomes outdated in the next month or two, they really should owe as a courtesy to their consumers an upgrade. Currently sold products shouldn't be abandoned (!)

I know it's alot of work to the mfgr to re-compile the OS for each phone and test it, etc., and of course "older" phones that are no longer being sold shouldn't be expected to have an upgrade...but if a phone is still actively being sold, and if especially the company's "flagship" phone, a OS upgrade should really be in order. Bad move for Nokia/Microsoft not to upgrade the Lumia 900 to WP8

[Charlyee]

Sorry RR, I have to disagree with you. Firstly apps for 6.5 Win Mob development continued until a few months back. The support from Microsoft was still there it is the providers and the manufacturers who deserted their devices.

As for WP, it was never promised WP 8 upgrade, infact it was repeatedly said that they possibly will NOT be due to hardware limitations. The existing devices will be getting 7.8 which will bring some of the WP8 enhancements to it and I (and most others on the WP Forums) consider that more than expected. This is no different than iOS except Apple is less open and do not openly admit that an update will not bring all the features to the older device that will to the new one being launched.

As for updates on Android, that's a joke in my opinion, with JB available, there are many still not on GB or unable to get ICS.

I bought mine for what it is capable of doing now not what it may or may not do after almost a year.

WP is new and needs time to become popular, no different than Android.

Just my 2 cents. ;-)

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

[Jay2TheRescue]

I don't need to be on the latest version of the OS, and even if you had an Android Gingerbread device, you still have a lot of support from software writers. I didn't upgrade my phone to ICS to run software. (Is there any software that will only run on ICS?) Yes, Microsoft continued to "Support" WM 6.5, but as soon as that announcement was made about WP7, the software developers fled. Here I was, looking at all these cool new apps, but nothing for me.

[RadioRaiders]

Sorry RR, I have to disagree with you. Firstly apps for 6.5 Win Mob development continued until a few months back. The support from Microsoft was still there it is the providers and the manufacturers who deserted their devices.

As for WP, it was never promised WP 8 upgrade, infact it was repeatedly said that they possibly will NOT be due to hardware limitations.

If the Lumia can't be upgraded to WP8 because the hardware doesn't meet WP8 requirements, then it makes sense why it won't be upgraded.

As for the jump from Win 6.5 to WP7, that was a big leap, because it was a complete change in architecture. Jay bought his phone at really the wrong time and got the short end of the stick there. I'm not 100% certain, but I'd guess apps that run on WP7 will run on WP8, and vice-versa? In that case, it's no big deal really. Kind of the same with different Android versions. Well, anything Android 2.x or higher. I had a Android 1.6 device, and that was lacking alot of Android 2.x API's and therefore couldn't run alot of newer apps.

Generally, I don't think there's a big or noticeable difference in Android OS versions, but still, if a phone is currently being sold, it should still be given the latest version of the OS. Alot of Android phones are still shipping with older versions, and the mfgrs really need to get it into gear.

I'd like to see a 3 dog race, with iOS, Android and WP. It would reflect the PC landscape, with Windows, MAC and Linux. I'm still note sure why WP isn't taking off. I think Android had a quicker uptake in adopters. Or did it just feel that way? Does anyone have numbers of the the T-Mobile G1 took off? (the 1st Android phone released to the public)

[dmapr]

I don't need to be on the latest version of the OS, and even if you had an Android Gingerbread device, you still have a lot of support from software writers. I didn't upgrade my phone to ICS to run software. (Is there any software that will only run on ICS?) Yes, Microsoft continued to "Support" WM 6.5, but as soon as that announcement was made about WP7, the software developers fled. Here I was, looking at all these cool new apps, but nothing for me.

Not anymore. Anything that runs on ICS will run on JB, too

Seriously, other than the Chrome browser I can't think of any apps that won't run on GB (maybe a few other Google apps, but none from 3rd party devs).

[dmapr]

Does anyone have numbers of the the T-Mobile G1 took off? (the 1st Android phone released to the public)

G1 was released in late October 2008. By end of April 2009 it has sold over a million units.

[RadioRaiders]

Wow, I didn't realize as of 2 months ago the bulk (more than half) of Android devices are running 2.3.x


Android 5.0 Jelly Bean - Too much, too soon? Bad for users and developers alike?

...I guess phone mfgrs just can't keep up with all of Googles Android releases. Maybe Google needs to slow down the release cycle rate. Make it once a year or something.

[RadioRaiders]

G1 was released in late October 2008. By end of April 2009 it has sold over a million units.

Thanks. This article suggests Nokia sold 330k Lumia's in the US in the last 4 months. Not too bad, but not up to Androids speed. From MS/Nokia point of view, it's probably really bad, as I'm sure they must have bet on it selling more than 330k.

Somehow Google managed to cause more of a stir. Despite the attempt, MS/Nokia doesn't seem to be generating much of a buzz. Alot of good reviews came in on WP7 and the Lumia, about the slick OS, as well as the "ClearBlack" screen, but it's not translating into sales. They need to throw some gas on the fire.

[dmapr]

Assuming Google is indeed going to have 5 Nexus devices come fall as has been rumored, the adoption rate may increase. Google is locked in a race with iOS where they can't really afford to let go.