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NPD: Android dominates 52% of U.S. smartphone sales in Q2

August 23, 2011 — 9:49am ET | By Jason Ankeny

Fifty-two percent of all smartphones sold to U.S. consumers during the second quarter of 2011 run Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android mobile operating system, up 19 percent year-over-year, according to new data published by market research firm NPD Group. Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS grew 7 percent over the past year and follows in second at 29 percent market share. Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry continues to slide, falling to 11 percent market share, while Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone/Windows Mobile held steady at less than 5 percent.

NPD Group's findings correspond with data issued earlier this month by research and advisory firm Gartner, which stated Android now dominates 43.4 percent of the global smartphone market, roughly double Symbian at 22.1 percent (down from 40.9 percent 12 months earlier). Apple's iOS is third in global market share at 18.2 percent, followed by BlackBerry at 11.7 percent, Samsung's bada at 1.9 percent and Windows Phone/Windows Mobile at 1.6 percent.

Last week, Google agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) for roughly $12.5 billion, a move that promises to dramatically impact the ongoing evolution of the Android ecosystem. According to NPD, Motorola's overall mobile phone market share declined 3 percentage points in the second quarter to 9 percent, and its share of the smartphone market also fell from 15 percent a year ago to 12 percent. NPD adds that Motorola's year-over-year unit share of Android device sales halved from 44 percent in the second quarter of 2010 to 22 percent in the most recent quarter as both Samsung and LG enjoyed significant gains.

"Android's momentum has made for a large pie that is attractive to Motorola's Android rivals, even if they must compete with their operating system developer," said NPD Group executive director of industry analysis Ross Rubin in a statement. "Much as it did in the feature phone market in the RAZR era, Motorola is experiencing increased competition from Samsung and LG in the smartphone market. Closer ties to the heart of Android can help inspire new paths to differentiation."

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