Localytics used the top 20 countries for mobile devices between December 1 and 20 to establish a baseline. The average daily activation rate for this period was compared to the average for December 25 and 26, to allow for devices given on Christmas to be activated the next day.
Android is destroying everyone, especially RIM, and iPhone is dead in the water. So says Henry Blodget, citingĀ comScore’s recent US smartphone market share estimates for the quarter ending Feb 2011 (compared to the previous quarter ending Nov 2010):
Blodget goes on to say:
The Android gains matter because technology platform markets tend to standardize around a single dominant platform. And the more dominant the platform becomes, the more valuable it becomes and the harder it becomes to dislodge. The network effect kicks in, and developers building products designed to work with the platform devote more and more of their energy to the platform. The reward for building and working with other platforms, meanwhile, drops, and gradually developers stop developing for them.
But is market share a reliable metric of network effect? Google doesn’t charge handset manufacturers or carriers for using Android, so itĀ should sell more strongly than Apple’s more expensive iPhone. It takes a conscious decision to pay extra for an iPhone, whereas carriers are giving Android handsets to many customers by default. Ā These customers may have little or no loyalty to the Android brand. In fact, many of them do not even know their phone is running Android.
As an alternative to market share as a metric of network effect, it may be more objective to consider mind share. Network effect is at least partly a social phenomenon. While ever a platform consciously commands people’s hearts and minds, it is presumably more likely to become dominant over competing platforms.
The GoogleĀ Insights for Search chart below offers a comparison of worldwide search patterns for the terms ‘iPhone’, ‘iPad’, ‘Android’, ‘BlackBerry’ and ‘Windows Mobile’ over the 65 months since the iPhone was first rumoured. While searches for the term ‘Android’ are keeping pace with the term ‘iPad’, they have a long way to go before they catch searches for ‘iPhone’.
The chart may suggest that Apple remains well ahead in the race toward mind share, and therefore platform domination.
Domino’s Pizza today announced a 16% increase in profits, saying sales have lifted with the help of its iPhone App.
The app was released in Australia in November 2009, attracting 200,000 downloads andĀ $2 million in sales in its first 12 weeks. It allowsĀ customers to design, order, pay for and track delivery of their pizzas.
Whilst announcing the results today, Domino’s chief executive Don Meij said:
“In Australia, our continued focus on the online side of our business also contributed to these results.Ā Our online ordering, which includes orders placed through our highly-successful iPhone app, is advancing and we are seeing great growth.”
