Android overtakes iPhone for No. 2 smartphone OS

We saw Android continue to grow and move into second place for smartphone market share,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis and consumer technology at the NPD Group, New York.Google’s Android is second to Research In Motion’s BlackBerry operating system, beating Apple’s iPhone in the No. 2 slot, per NPD Group research.

According to the company’s report, in order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to include all of its smartphones. Based on unit sales to consumers last quarter, Android moved into second position at 28 percent, with RIM at 36 percent and Apple at 21 percent.   “Our findings show that the carriers are very instrumental in determining which handsets and operating systems gain exposure,” he said. “There’s far more handset models available for the Android operating system. “Verizon wireless has promoted the Droid heavily and at a lower price.”

Android on the rise
“The thing you see with the iPhone is that it is just one device, while Android has different devices on multiple carriers and more devices are coming to the market,” said Noah Elkin, senior analyst at eMarketer, New York.

So what does this mean for advertisers?

“It means that there’s a viable alternative to the iPhone and to the apple platform,” Mr. Elkin said. “Apple is getting ready to launch iAd, and the stakes are pretty high.“They may be too high for many advertisers or simply more than many advertisers are willing to commit to a mobile campaign,” he said. “There are a growing number of Android devices and users who are as active as iPhone users. “That makes Android a good competitor and a good alternative to Apple’s iPhone.”