Another Major Leap for Google Android OS Among Consumers

by Paul Carton | September 29, 2010 5:24 pm

For more than a year, ChangeWave consumer smartphone surveys have been chronicling the upward movement of the Google Android operating system and its explosive impact on the smartphone market. Going forward, our latest consumer survey shows another surge in Android momentum among planned buyers.

The survey of 4,000 respondents, completed Sept. 23, takes a close-up look at the transformation occurring in mobile OS and smartphone preferences.

Another Leap for Android

Back in June, the launch of the iPhone 4 temporarily slowed the meteoric rise of the Google Android operating system. But our latest survey shows the Android OS is once again making major advances in the smartphone market.

Among consumers planning to buy a smartphone in the next 90 days, 37% say they prefer to have the Android OS on their new phone — a 7-pt jump since our previous survey and a new all-time high for the Google operating system.

* Note: Estimated data for Sep 2008

As the above chart points out, we’ve seen huge leaps forward for the Android OS in four of the last five ChangeWave surveys. All told, it’s a six-fold increase in consumer preference for the Google OS in a year’s time.

While the Apple iOS (38%; -12 pts) remains the number one OS preference for future buyers, it dropped as expected in the aftermath of the huge spike we saw during June’s iPhone 4 release. The following chart shows mobile OS preferences for consumers who plan on buying a smartphone in the next 90 days — in comparison to the OS preferences from our June survey.

Research in Motion’s results are less encouraging in the above chart. Preference for the RIM OS (6%) is up just 1-pt since June, a time when RIM had fallen to its lowest level since we began asking this question. The current 1-pt uptick is likely attributable to the recent launch of the new Torch smartphone.

OS Customer Satisfaction

We also took a look at OS satisfaction rates based upon the type of operating system consumers report using on their smart phones.

The below findings help explain the extraordinary shifts we’re currently seeing in the smartphone market.

As previously, the Apple iOS leads the industry with 74% of customers who use the iPhone OS saying they’re Very Satisfied. Just behind them is the Android OS, with two-in-three users (65%) saying they’re Very Satisfied.

The Very Satisfied ratings of both these leaders dwarf those of other major operating systems, including the Palm OS/Web OS (32%), RIM OS (31%) and Windows Mobile (24%).

The complete ChangeWave report is available here[1].

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2010/09/another-major-leap-for-google-android-os-among-consumers/

---