Charts: Worldwide Smartphone Market Share and Trends
Key Facts about the Mobile Environment
- Android (GOOG) and iOS (AAPL) powered 85% of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2012 (2Q12)
- BlackBerry (RIMM) and Symbian (NOK), two pioneers and former leaders of the smartphone market, both saw their market shares fall below five percent. Although Blackberry’s market share has fallen drastically, they have been focusing on developer relations, increasing their app inventory, and streamlining their Blackberry 10 operating system
Android
- Success in the market can be traced directly to Samsung
- Samsung devices accounted for 44 percent of all Android smartphones shipped in the 2nd Quarter of 2012
- Samsung totalled more than the next 7 Android vendors combined
- Many other Android vendors are re-establishing
Apple
- Posted double-digit growth
- Demand for Apple’s flagship smartphone has cooled off now that the device has been available since October
- iOS remained the solid number two operating system behind Android worldwide
BlackBerry
- One of the pioneers and former leaders in the worldwide smartphone market
- Currently revamping their operating system and transitioning to Blackberry 10
- Seamless app porting from the Android system to Blackberry 10 could allow them to obtain app inventory very quickly and retake market share
Symbian
- For years the world’s most shipped OS
- 62.9% drop registered was its sharpest year-over-year drop ever
- Due to Symbian decline, Nokia decided to make Windows their primary mobile operating system
Windows
- Narrowed the gap between itself and BlackBerry
- Share gains it made last quarter are due mostly to Nokia, which almost doubled its Lumia/Windows Phone shipments sequentially
- Windows Phone is still a distant competitor to Android and iOS
- Microsoft will need to generate additional momentum from Windows Phone 8 devices, which will be introduced October 26th, 2012
Linux
- A category largely comprised of Samsung’s Bada shipments
- Declined on a year-over year basis as Samsung’s smartphone sales are increasingly Android centric
- Linux OS dependent vendors such as Panasonic are also migrating to Android, which contributed to the year-over-year decline.
Source: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23638712
Charts Relating to the US market:
Source: ComScore
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Native Apps and Web Apps are 2 Different Tools
What are Native Mobile Apps and Mobile Web Apps?
Native App
- A software application developed specifically to run on the architecture of a mobile device, and which is downloaded, purchased, and upgraded through a central distribution portal (such as the App Store).
Web App
- Uses web browser technology on the Internet to display a mobile URL on a device, often with a different appearance than the corresponding desktop website.
In the Beginning
The mobile revolution started with basic cell phones that had features such as browser, calendar, calculator, contacts and other functions, which allowed users to utilize tools to organize their content and solve basic problems. The aforementioned applications that were provided by device manufacturers were the beginning of native based apps. The iPhone revolutionized apps by allowing developers to create custom mobile applications based on the iPhone’s existing technology and Apple provided a distribution hub for developers, which allowed iPhone users to download third party mobile applications. Eventually, mobile browsers (a native app… remember that for later) began to evolve, which allowed web apps that could thrive in a browser environment.
Mobile Web Apps Serve a Purpose
Although I work for a mobile development firm that specializes in native development (we can also do complex and custom web apps), I still believe that mobile web apps serve a purpose. As a sole form of mobile media, they are great for basic information, local retail/restaurants and small business. Unfortunately, they lack functionality when it comes to extensive problem solving. For example, many enterprise organizations have existing software infrastructure, therefore developers must integrate software with browser based technology, which can be done but can have its hurdles.
I like to compare integrating existing software systems (API’s) into browser based mobile apps to making salad dressing. Think of existing software as oil and browser based web apps as vinegar. When you make salad dressing you mix oil with vinegar and they come together nicely. After you dress your salad the oil and vinegar separate. Although they are separated they can still be used when shaken up again, but in order to have oil and vinegar become one you must spend time and resources emulsifying the two. Even if they become emulsified, it is still possible they could separate.
Integrating existing software systems into a native based mobile application is similar to mixing sparkling water and orange juice. You pour the orange juice and sparkling water into a cup, give it a stir and you have a very refreshing beverage. If you make a very big jug of sparkling water and orange juice (a large mobile integration project) it is possible you may need to give the jug a stir every once in a while (maintenance). Generally the sparkling water and orange juice integrate fairly well.
What Type of Mobile Applications are going to Solve Problems? Native or Web?
Many types of problems can be solved with mobile technology. The mHealth (mobile health) market is beginning to breakthrough and has the ability to solve world issues. Marketers are beginning to use creative solutions to engage consumers through push messaging and direct mobile marketing. These are only 2 of many problems that are being solved with mobile technology.
“Browser based web apps are reliant on mobile browsers to innovate. Therefore browser based web apps rely on the innovation of native app developers”
The mobile browser is considered a native based application. Therefore in order for browser based web apps to increase functionality they are reliant on a native app. All major device manufacturers and operating systems are aligning their strategy towards native based apps. Apple is not adding extended functionality to Safari (Apple’s mobile browser), considering they recently revamped the entire app store and In July “Apple announced that there are over 650,000 apps on the Apple App Store, up from 600K in April of this year.” (Crook, 2012). Apple is not the only company aligning their strategy toward native based apps. Google announced in June that is had over 600,000 app available in Google Market, Blackberry announced that they have over 99,500 apps in App world and Microsoft announced that they have over 100,000 apps to choose from.
The Bottom Line
A mobile strategy includes a deep integration of all forms of mobile media.
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