UPDATE 1-Apple questions Android smartphone surge

Tue May 11, 2010 1:29pm EDT

* Calls NPD smartphone report "limited"

* Says iPhone global market share growing

SAN FRANCISCO May 11 (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Tuesday questioned recent data showing smartphones using Google's (GOOG.O) Android operating system surpassing iPhone sales in the United States, and said there are no signs that the competition is gaining in the smartphone market.

Smartphones using Android accounted for 28 percent of U.S. unit sales in the first quarter, ahead of Apple at 21 percent, research group NPD said on Monday. Research in Motion Ltd (RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) was No. 1 at 36 percent, NPD said. [ID:nN10138755]

Apple said the NPD data didn't provide a complete picture.

"This is a very limited report on 150,000 U.S. consumers responding to an online survey and does not account for the more than 85 million iPhone and iPod touch customers worldwide," said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison.

She said the iPhone far outsells Android on a worldwide basis, and pointed to a report from IDC last week which showed the iPhone with a 16.1 percent global market share, behind No. 2 RIM and No. 1 Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE).

"We had a record quarter with iPhone sales growing by 131 percent and with our new iPhone OS 4.0 software coming this summer, we see no signs of the competition catching up any time soon," Harrison said.

Apple has sold more than 51 million iPhones since it started selling the device in 2007.

Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple rose 2.2 percent to $259.55 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. (Reporting by Gabriel Madway. Editing by Robert MacMillan)

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Comments (3)
s15274n wrote:
So… Sooo tired of Apple. Everything I read on them annoys me. Apple is evil, in every shape and form. Adobe, Closed-source, restricting developers, expensive, THINKING they are the best, commercials that make me vomit. When will people see through them for what they are?

May 11, 2010 1:51pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
Stefzu wrote:
The only reasons I bought a ‘Droid: My old phone died; iPhone is not yet available on Verizon — as soon as it is available from Verizon, I switch!

May 11, 2010 1:57pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
OMGTECH wrote:
So Apple replies to the statistics with their own statistics, that have nothing to do with the presented statistics. There’s a name for this, and there’s a lot of it lately from the Apple camp. It’s called FUD.

May 11, 2010 2:10pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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