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Apple questions Android smartphone surge
An advertisement for the Apple iPhone is shown at a retail store of an Orange mobile phone network provider in Bordeaux, southwestern France, October 23, 2009.
Credit: Reuters/Regis Duvignau
SAN FRANCISCO |
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Tuesday questioned recent data showing smartphones using Google's 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 was No. 1 at 36 percent, NPD said.
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.
"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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As for the 51 million iPhone figure touted by the Apple spokesperson, that’s actually not as large and formidable as it sounds. In the first quarter of this year, global smartphone shipments were at 54 million units. In other words, more smartphones ship in the first quarter of this year than Apple has ever sold since it started selling phones in 2007. With Android on so many different phones, it’s not going to be difficult to pass a number like 51 million in global sales. I don’t know who Apple is trying to kid with those statements, but anyone following the market trends would know the real truth of the matter.
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