Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

I think part of the loyalty numbers for iPhone users is the substantial investment they make in other Apple hardware, software, and App Store apps. Unfortunately, I don't have any hard data to back this up, but I imagine a large percentage of iPhone users have at least one other piece of Apple hardware, such as a Mac, iPad, iPod Touch, etc., that works seamlessly alongside the iPhone and iTunes. That makes it tougher to break away from the iPhone. My coworker is one such example. He has an iPhone, a Macbook, and a Mac Mini. He loves the fact that iTunes ties them all together, and wouldn't get a different phone because of it.

Android doesn't have that kind of integration, simply because there isn't that tight integration. For example, my girlfriend and I both have Android phones, but everything else we have is Microsoft (2 laptops on XP and Vista, a media center PC and a Viliv S5 tablet on Windows 7, and an XBox 360). If Google could get all of those other devices dependent on Google software like Apple does with iTunes, they'd have a shot at keeping people loyal.

You'll also notice that Microsoft missed a big opportunity here. In addition to all of that Microsoft hardware, we used to both have Windows Mobile phones, but there was nothing to tie them all together like iTunes. I would have thought something like XBox Live Marketplace could have worked (e.g. as a central place to buy content for all my devices, share contacts and data, etc.), but Microsoft never executed. Maybe with Windows Phone 7 they will...

Google showcased a ton of this at Google I/O.

Android ties in really well to their webapps, Google TV (If that succeeds), etc.

I remember one example was that you can go to maps.google.com and click on a phone icon, and it just sends it straight to your phone which opens a map in the same place. That's really useful integration. I forget the rest of the examples, but they were all pretty 'wow'.

I think iTunes is an example of how not to do things. The iPhone is reliant on iTunes completely. With android, it stands on its own and can integrate with other things when you want it to.

This is only interesting if you look at it the right way.

The way I see it is that there are many manufacturers of Android phones, while every iPhone is manufactured by Apple.

Also, every phone that runs iOS has specifications much more the same than that of every phone which runs Android. Apple's approach makes it easier for developers to get their app running consistently on as many devices as possible.

http://gigaom.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/smartphone-switch.... is interesting, though. If the data is to be believed, 20% of Android users will buy a phone from Apple next time they make a purchase and 90% of iPhone users will buy another iPhone.

The integration point for Google's stuff is the cloud, not physical devices. I expect this to gradually become a key differentiating factor. Apple is riding the coattails of an old paradigm, and, like Microsoft before them, they're too invested in the money they're making in the old paradigm to make the sacrifices necessary to properly address the new one.

Unfortunately, the Android Marketplace as well as the SDK still sucks for us developers. Buggy and inconsistent behavior across different devices; Bad performance (MotionEvent anyone?); The lack of paid apps in different countries and the prevalence of spammy crapware apps on the unregulated marketplace. I wonder if google will do anything to address these issues as Android gain a wider audience. Otherwise I can see this as a hindrance to the adoption of Android.