Google's Android platform dominated the smartphone market in the U.S. yet again with majority smartphone activations during the first quarter, while Apple's iOS came in second place.
The dominance of the Android platform in the U.S. smartphone market continued as it again took the top spot during the first quarter of 2014. According to new data from research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, CIRP, Android smartphone activations accounted for 53 percent of the entire market share in the U.S., but Apple's iOS platform witnessed a significant drop from the previous quarter, nabbing 42 percent of all activations during the CIRP's survey period.
The results were based on a survey of 500 U.S. residents who activated their devices from January through March. CIRP's data only shows the number of new activations and not the total number of devices running Android or iOS.
Since Android and iOS took the majority share, with 95 percent of all activations in the U.S., other competing platforms were left with a mere 5 percent. Based on the findings, Microsoft's Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS took one percent each and the remaining three percent was mustered by basic phones.
The results show a significant drop in the non-smartphone activations, down 20 percent from the beginning of Q1, CIRP shows. As for Android, the market share grew significantly from 43 percent at the beginning of the quarter to 53 percent by the end of the period. The growth was seen for iOS platform as well, which was weighed at 30 percent at the beginning to 42 percent during the quarter's end.
"On a percentage bases during the quarter, iOS grew a little faster than Android, from a smaller base, even though in absolute terms Android had a larger share," Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP, said in a press release, Friday. "The long term issue is where Android and iOS growth will come from when there are no more basic phones being retired. First time smartphone buyers are key to that equation."
Another recent survey from a market intelligence firm, IDC, revealed in February that Android accounted for nearly 80 percent of all smartphones in 2013. The survey was conducted on a global level and showed the total number of devices powered by different mobile operating systems and not just activations.
