Android Surging in U.S. Smartphone Market; RIM Still Tops

USA Today is reporting that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is king of the smartphone hill, according to data released by researcher comScore.

RIM had a 41.7% market share among smartphone platforms, topping Apple (iPhone) 24.4%, Microsoft (Windows) 13.2% and Google (Android) 13.0%. Palm, which was recently acquired by HP, lagged with a 4.8 % share.

The folks at RIM may not want to get overly giddy. The numbers reflect the three month period ending in May 2010, prior to the iPhone 4's release and before a slew of new Google Android devices invaded the market, including the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint and Motorola's Droid X from Verizon.

Most of the momentum indeed points to Android. Google gained four percentage points compared to the previous three month reporting period of February 2010, the only smartphone rival with a positive point change in market share during that time.

Still, comScore says overall smartphone ownership continues to grow, with 49.1 million people in the U.S. now owning such a device, up 8.1 percent over the corresponding February period.


I suspect that RIM will be king for another 1 - 2 years as companies relax use of non-blackberry phones on their networks. With the failure of KIN, Microsoft needs a home run with Windows Phone 7.

The competition in the mobile phone market will only get more fierce as more users move to smartphones. We are not even near 80 saturation of the smartphone market, so this a great time for companies to build device/brand loyalty.

How long do you think RIM can hang on? Let me know in the comments!

Read the post at USA Today.

Posted via email from Neville's Blog

T-Mobile Dropkicks The Sidekick

Less than 24 hours after Microsoft killed Kin dead, T-Mobile has abandoned the granddaddy of messaging phones. Sidekick sales will cease tomorrow, July 2nd, and honestly? No one will care.

 

There’s no bug, defect or data loss SNAFU to blame; just the cold realization that there’s no room for such a product in a smartphone obsessed nation. Here’s how T-Mobile is spinning it:

As T-Mobile looks to further innovate and raise the bar for the next iteration of the T-Mobile Sidekick, as of July 2, the Sidekick LX and Sidekick 2008 will no longer be available through T-Mobile, including retail stores, care, telesales and online. While we work on the next chapter of our storied Sidekick franchise, T-Mobile will continue to provide our loyal Sidekick customers with product service and support. Stay tuned for exciting updates in the months ahead, which we expect will provide customers with a new and fresh experience.

 

Two Microsoft feature phones killed off in two days? As I said in my previous post, this is not looking good for Microsoft. I hope Window Phone 7 can live up to the hype.

 

Will Sidekick come back ever? It may, but my gut tells me no. It reminds to many people of the past in mobile technology. It's still a strong brand even if the products are obsolete and If it does return, it'll have a real OS behind it.

Posted via email from Neville's Blog