NPD report: In the US, Android phones outsell BlackBerry & iPhone

According to market research from the NPD Group, in the US, sales of Android-based smartphones have now overtaken BlackBerry devices to claim the number one position – since the fourth quarter of 2007, Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices had previously held the lead. Discussing the survey results, Ross Rubin, NPD executive director of industry analysis, said, “For the second consecutive quarter, Android handsets have shown strong but slowing sell-through market share gains among US consumers”.

The NPD smartphone survey says that, Android is now installed on one of every three smarpthones sold at retail in the US, accounting for 33% of all smartphones purchased in the second quarter of 2010. Overall, RIM's BlackBerry accounted for 28% of sales in the second quarter – dropping 9 points. Apple came in third with 22%, up 1% over last quarter with help from its recent iPhone 4 launch.

In the US the iPhone is exclusive to GSM carrier AT&T, while the other four major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile) all sell Android handsets. CDMA carriers Sprint and Verizon, for example, have been selling Android-based phones like the Droid Eris (HTC Hero), the HTC Incredible and the HTC EVO 4G – the first 4G phone in the US, as well as the popular Motorola Droid (also known in Europe as the Motorola Milestone). Verizon is still running several popular promotional campaigns for the Android and BlackBerry devices, including various buy-one-get-one free offers.

Update: According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the company is now selling 200,000 Android powered devices each day. At the inaugural Techonomy conference, Schmidt said that, "The number was about 100,000 (a day) about two months ago," noting that, "It looks like Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate. God knows how long that will continue."

See also:

• Motorola, HTC drive Android to Smartphone OS lead in the U.S., press release from The NPD Group.
• Report: Android shipments increase by 886%, a report from The H.

(crve)