Nielsen Report: iPhone has the times Android's market share
blog.nielsen.com
blog.nielsen.com
>> "80% of iPhone users want their next device to run iPhone OS while 70% of Android users want another Android device. This is in stark comparison to other major smartphone players: only 47% of Blackberry users want another Blackberry while only 34% of Windows Mobile users want another Windows Mobile device."
Their market share is as high as it is only because they've been on the market for so long with previous versions. I believe almost everything is getting scrapped, though, which really decreases the advantage of having such a large user ecosystem.
Android has many more models (G1, Nexus One, Droid, myTouch, EVO, etc...) being sold by multiple carriers all under one umbrella of "Android phones."
Don't get me wrong ,I think that Android will grow tremendously and do great, but that is not the point. It is like on the PC/notebook platform where we have a much bigger Windows user group, but there is the x% Mac users. After 20 years Windows last year I switched to Mac and I do understand now why some people like it better. I think the iPhone is to some degree similar. Good or bad, but having the hardware, OS and application framework from one company does offer quality and ease. I hope that Android will pick up so the iPhone also gets cheaper and better.
I look at it like this. For years usability and quality difference between DOS (and later Windows) machines and Macs was like night and day. Particularly if you look at the early days of Windows, it was unbelievably primitive compared to Macs of the same era. And yet, because of the number of manufacturers and models of DOS/Windows PC's and the number of sales channels those PC's where sold through, the sales volume for PC's has always dwarfed the sales volume for Macs.
If you look at the Motley Fool's analysis, it's clear that Android will have the same advantages of diversity of models, distribution, etc. over iPhone that PC's have traditionally had over Macs. However, IMHO the situation is even worse for Apple this time, as the quality and usability of the end user experience between iPhone and Android much closer than it was between Mac's and DOS/Windows PC's.
However, even if Apple can get out of their exclusive arrangement with AT&T, it may be too little too late.
I wonder if android owners aren't aware that they are running Android.