Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!
Codebreaker

Android gaining in tablets, iPhone gaining in phones

John Moe Jan 26, 2012

Look, we all know how this is supposed to work. Apple dominates tablets with the iPad. Nothing else comes close. Android tablets shouldn’t even bother existing. They’ll never live up to iPad. iPad, in the heavy metal vernacular of my junior high days, Rulz.

Meanwhile, iPhone can’t measure up to Android phones. It’s popular but it’s only one brand and next to the wave of Android options, most people don’t go with Apple.

These are the rules of mobile devices, people! SO WHY YOU GOTTA START BREAKING THEM?!

Strategy Analytics says Android gained ground as Apple lost it. Not by a ton but by some.

From Engadget:

Cupertino’s iOS comprised about 58 percent of the global slate market during Q4 2011 — well ahead of Android’s record high 39 percent share, but down from the 68 percent it commanded during the final quarter of 2010. Android, in fact, has seen quite a jump over the past year, with total shipments reaching 10.5 million units during the last quarter, up from just 3.1 million last year (Apple, by comparison, shipped 15.4 million iPads during Q4, versus the 7.3 million it shipped last year).

Research group Kantar Worldpanel ComTech says iPhone surpassed Android in the last three months of 2011, doubling it’s market share from last year and reaching 44.9 percent. Android dropped from 50 percent overall share to 44.8 percent.

And you can get an Android tablet for $99. It’s not all that great but it’s $99.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.