iCloud Boosts Apple’s Market Share
Apple appears to be distancing itself from its main competitor in the mobile OS wars, finishing with a 46% market share in a June survey compared to Google’s 32%. For months, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems have been shoulder-to-shoulder in the race, with almost identical shares of 36% and 35% respectively as of December.
The ChangeWave Research survey, run by The 451 Group, showed that of over 4,000 consumers, those who planned on buying a smartphone in the next few months were partial to the iOS. About 89% of the respondents were from the U.S., where competition between the two companies is particularly fierce.
iCloud, Apple’s upcoming cloud-computing service, is believed to have helped boost its popularity. The service stores users’ data, primarily music and videos, on a remote network so that users can retrieve and share them wirelessly between different Apple devices. With the iPad enjoying commercial success alongside iPods and iPhones, the service couldn’t have come at a better time.
The survey suggested that 29% of users who already owned Apple products would be more likely to stick to the brand for future purchases when iCloud becomes available this fall. Of those who owned other brands, 13% said they might switch over to Apple because of the service.
Although Google moved into cloud computing first with Google Docs and associated services, Apple stuck to its philosophy of taking existing technologies and putting them in a sleeker, tighter package. The iCloud has been largely hyped as the biggest development in cloud computing—an emerging system where data is stored in an online network rather than on a physical device.
Meanwhile, the Blackberry, once the leader in smartphone technology, is struggling to stay in the game with its market share falling to 4% in June from 5% in March. It was the market leader in 2008 with a 32% share, but has failed to keep up with developments in iOS and Android. With the iCloud and Google’s competing service gaining ground, its manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) is in for an even tougher challenge.
Apple also leads the pack in terms of customer satisfaction. Almost three-quarters of iPhone owners claim to be “very satisfied” with their devices, whereas only 50% of Android users said the same about theirs. Windows Phone 7 OS, a relative newcomer, edged out Blackberry with a 27% satisfaction rating compared to the latter’s 26%.
