I see little green men everywhere!
ScreamingToaster has been developing mobile experiences for the Android platform before version 1.0 and we are so happy to see the huge success of Android smartphone sales this year!
. As you probably know, Android has been the fastest growing smartphone platform for quite some time now, however it has has finally overtaken Apple in marketshare! This goes to show that most people have real requirements for their smartphone, such as: handset diversity, carrier choice, multitasking (switching between applications), real customization, and an open marketplace
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Here are a few quick stats:
- Globally, Android has 10M+ handsets in circulation, compared to 8.7M iPhone handsets.
- Android phone sales in the US have gown by 851% in Q2 of 2010! Amazing!
- Android now has 34% of the US market and has surpassed Apple in mobile marketshare!
- Android’s growth has outpaced iPhone growth, but iPhone is still growing. In contrast, BlackBerry marketshare in on the decline globally.
Here’s a graph showing the mobile marketshare in the US for Q2 2010.

There are now many Android phones available by many manufacturers on all the major telcos in the world. The Android OS is free and open, and it is the clear choice for handset manufacturers, which promotes handset diversity. All of this equals tons of choice for the consumer! The Android SDK is open source, well documented and Google supports its developer community. The Android Marketplace is completely open for developers to submit apps (for better or worse), so this means Android developers are excited and energized to make apps.
A smartphone is much more than just the hardware, or just the software that comes with it out of the box. I literally talk to dozens of young people everyday who think nothing could be cooler than being an Android developer and want to learn to make apps. A vibrant developer community keeps a platform’s ecosystem relevant and strong.
ScreamingToaster can build your next Android experience – if you are interested in assistance with the design, implementation, and marketing of an Android experience, please contact us.
Hold the fruit!

What is most interesting for me is where all these new Android customers are coming from… they are coming from the former customer base of BlackBerry and Windows Mobile! In a recent Nielsen survey, 57% of US BlackBerry customers have said they are switching away from BlackBerry to another type of smartphone. Over half of their US customer base wants to leave them. This is not good news for RIM. In contrast, Android customers are very loyal, as 71% of them say they will stay with Android when purchasing their next smartphone.
Here are a few quick stats:
- 29% of BlackBerry customers say that they will be switching to iPhone next.
- 21% of BlackBerry customers they will be switching to Android next.
Too little, too late
BlackBerry has just come out with the 9800 running OS 6.0. It has a large touch screen and a pull out keyboard, which is nice but the new OS 6.0 is basically a BlackBerry/Android hybrid OS. Almost all of the “new features” in OS 6.0 are from the Android OS. The biggest addition to the new OS is an ACTUAL web browser that supports tabbed browsing. If you are a long time BlackBerry customer, the web browser will seem like the greatest part of 6.0. However, if you are an iPhone or Android customer, you will probably laugh at this “new” OS and device. The 9800 with OS 6.0 is too little, too late.
The 9800 and all BlackBerry devices are way overpriced for what they deliver. BlackBerry data plans are also way overpriced. The iPhone has a functional web browser, amazing screen, has a huge App Store, costs less to purchase and has a cheaper data plan per month. It also has full ActiveSync Exchange support out of the box! BlackBerry requires you to pay an extra $30 per month for BES in order to get Exchange!
It is no surprise that many Fortune 100 companies are currently in the process of certifying iPhone 4 as their corporate mobile device, soon eliminating BlackBerry from the enterprise. The 9800 with OS 6.0 may be the first modern smartphone by RIM, but it is still not worth paying $30 more per month for BES. There are just too many other better choices. Why would I pay for a BlackBerry when I can get more for less in an iPhone or Android? I just don’t see the numbers adding up.
Maybe there is just too much “bad blood” between me and BlackBerry:
- BlackBerry devices are just a really fancy PDA and pager, circa the early 2000’s. They have just now, in 2010, come out with a phone with a real web browser (I just can’t get over this!)
- BlackBerry devices cost too much for what they do.
- The BlackBerry data plan + BES costs too much. It costs $30 more per month than an iPhone or Android data plan!
- All BlackBerry devices are slow! Especially compared to other smartphones in their price range.
- BlackBerry devices are no more durable than any other device.
- They are not the only device with a keyboard – many Android devices have nice keyboards, and the iPhone 4 soft keyboard is amazing and works like magic.
- There is no real support for media playback or recording, like on Android and iPhone. They have a laughable amount of onboard storage for media.
- The screens are small and unusable, especially the 9800 screen!
- Location based services are not really available on pre 5.0 devices, which is the majority of the market. LBS is not available at all on Verizon for BlackBerry.
- OS and hardware is fragmented, making it really difficult to develop one application that works on all devices.
- There is no BlackBerry ecosystem – they have successfully killed their ecosystem. Consumers hate them. Developers hate them. BES customers hate them.
BlackBerry treats ISVs that make BlackBerry software as competitors because RIM authors all of the major name brand apps on the App World such as the: Twitter app, Facebook app, Windows Messenger, AOL Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ app, Google search app, as well as dozens of others that they do not officially put their name on. They do not foster a developer community and developers are not excited or motivated to make BlackBerry apps. There is an overall lack of buzz and excitement around BlackBerry.
We can build your next mobile application. We can help you choose the right platform for your app, design your app, build it, and help you market and sell your app. Please contact us if would like us build your next mobile application for an Android, BlackBerry, or iPhone. We can empower your business by bringing your ideas to life.