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Android outsells the iPhone in the U.S. for the first time
Sean Fallon
Google's Android platform outsold the iPhone last quarter in the U.S. for the first time
Verizon Wireless' Motorola DROID is among the handsets that helped Android surpass iPhone sales last quarter
Published on May 10, 2010
It really shouldn't come as a surprise, but last quarter represented the first time Android-based phones outsold the iPhone in the U.S. according to market research firm NPD.
RIM's BlackBerry OS held the top spot with 36% of total smartphone sales, with Android and Apple following at 28% and 21% respectively.
Of course, this was bound to happen given the fact that both Android and RIM have many phone models with several carriers while the iPhone is limited to two models on AT&T. NPD analysts also attribute strong sales of Android and BlackBerry phones to Verizon's buy-one-get-one-free deals.
The fact that the iPhone has been able to maintain such strong sales for this long given these limitations is actually quite extraordinary. One would imagine that the launch of the fourth-generation iPhone might shake things up a bit. And if the device ever comes to Verizon, the landscape would change entirely.
