According to statistics firm Quantcast, Android devices now account for 25 percent of North America’s mobile Internet traffic. Traffic for Google’s Android OS increased 2 percent, while the market share for Apple’s iOS 4 and other mobile operating systems decreased.
In a previous post on its blog, Quantcast noted that web traffic for the iPad is not included in the figures for Apple’s iOS, which could significantly raise Apple’s market share if included. Quantcast did not specify if the iPad’s figures were included with the firm’s latest statistics.
Within the past year, Apple has lost 11 percent of its web market share to other operating systems, while Google has gained 17 percent. Steve Jobs & Co. still hold the most market share with 56 percent of all mobile Internet traffic coming from iOS 4.
AppleInsider points out that if Google can “maintain another year of comparable growth, Android will be nearly neck-and-neck with iOS.” Research in Motion, the makers of the BlackBerry devices, are steadily losing ground as its market share slips to 9 percent.
Research in Motion Ltd. has plans to introduce a tablet in November to compete with Apple’s increasingly popular iPad tablet, according to Bloomberg’s sources. The device, which is going to be called “Blackpad”, will cost around the same as the iPad, starting at $499.At around the same dimensions as Apple’s tablet, the Blackpad will include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth that will allow you to connect to your BlackBerry’s Internet.
“They can’t wait for a second generation of devices from Apple or they’ll fall too far behind,” Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw Inc., told Bloomberg.
Several other companies, like Microsoft for example, have also been rushing to come out with their tablet to rival the iPad.
“With the success of the iPad, RIM faces an uphill battle,” said Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst William Power, who has “a ‘neutral’ rating on RIM’s stock”. “RIM really has yet to demonstrate that it can roll out touchscreen technology to match the leaders in the space, most noticeably Apple.”
RIM is also betting that its tablet will become the favorite for its e-mail capabilities and for the corporate love that it’s BlackBerry smart-phone receives.
Current Microsoft Corporation Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner made the comparison and called the iPhone 4 Apple’s Windows Vista.
“It looks like iPhone 4 might be their Vista and I’m okay with that,” Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer, told an audience during the Worldwide Partner Conference on July 14.
If you are not aware (at this point, everyone is), Turner was poking fun at his main rival, referring to the dismay that consumers had at his own company due to Vista having to have several major updates and Service Packs before the operating system’s bugs and compatibility issues were resolved.
The latest iPhone has had major antenna issues, with Apple founder Steve Jobs even calling the problem “Antennagate”. Apple tried to ratify the problem at its June 16th conference by offering free bumpers and making sure that the company threw its rivals (primarily RIM and Motorola) under the bus. Jobs even went the length to demonstrate reception issues with the rival’s phones.
