Just a day after Research in Motion gobbled up all the day's buzz with the release of its new OS version 6 and Torch Blackberry , King Crackberry has been dethroned.
Smartphones running Google's Android OS were the top-seller in the US during the second quarter of 2010, accounting for a third of all such sales, and pushing RIM from the top spot for the first time since 2007. Blackberry's share of the market dropped from 37 to 28 percent, but if the new OS lives up to its hype, it could be a very steep dip and quick recovery in the company's market share history.
Android phones have a few key factors working in their favor and plenty of reason for continued optimism going forward. Foremost is having Verizon as a carrier for some of the most popular phones, especially in the wake of the negative publicity endured over AT&T's iPhone "death grip" flap.
The future for Android phones remains bright, given the fact that many observers believe the Google OS could have posted even better numbers were it not for shortages of the HTC Droid Incredible in the spring.
That said, folks in the Apple camp are unsurprisingly optimistic as well. iPhone sales held the bronze position, with a 22 percent share. Sales also increased but did not keep pace with Android's acceleration, although the numbers inevitably do not reflect the bulk of iPhone 4 sales that came after the data period. And let's not forget that the possibility of a Verizon iPhone is looming on the horizon for 2011, which could finally put Google and Apple head-to-head more on the merits of their mobile software.
Oh, and in case you're keeping track, RIM still has a slight edge on Android in worldwide sales, but both OSes run a distant 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, to global leader Symbian.
