Google’s Android gains momentum
Consumer awareness of Google’s Android has grown rapidly since the Verizon Droid ad campaign, according to new research from comScore.
The ‘Android: Crashing the Smartphone Party’ report found that general awareness about Android has increased and now as many as 17% of US consumers who are looking to purchase a smartphone are considering buying an android-supported handset in the next three months, which compares to 20% of people who are planning to buy an iPhone.
Mark Donovan, comScore’s senior vice president of mobile, said: “With handsets on multiple carriers, from multiple manufacturers, and numerous Android device models expected to be in the US market by January, the Android platform is rapidly shaking up the smartphone market.
“While iPhone continues to set the bar with its App Store and passionate user base, and RIM remains the leader among the business set, Android is clearly gaining momentum among developers and consumers.”
The report shows that even though Android’s share of the smartphone market is relatively small, it has quickly doubled in the last year to 3.5% by October 2009.
In addition, the research found that Apple and Android users are much more likely to engage with mobile media than an average smartphone user. As many as 94% of iPhone users consumed mobile media in September 2009, while 92% of Android users – predominantly T-Mobile G1 users – engaged in mobile media activities.
Apple and Android users are equally likely to engage with news via their browser as well as mobile apps, according to comScore. Email is the only major activity that iPhone users (87%) are much more likely to use compared with Android users.
Overall, the report shows that Android users will behave more like iPhone users than other smartphone users.