eMarketer puts numbers to iPhone v Android smartphone race

Analyst sees Android overtaking iPhone in the US by 2012, but both will be eating into BlackBerry market share.

'Who will win the Android vs. iPhone race?' asks an article by analyst firm eMarketer. To which the obvious response is 'Why can't they both win?'. The competition between Apple and Google's smartphone ecosystems is, after all, driving huge numbers of sales/activations for both companies.

That's actually eMarketer's conclusion too. In a piece of research focused on the US market, it estimates that BlackBerry took a 30% share of smartphone users in 2010, ahead of iPhone (28%), Android (24%), Windows Mobile/Phone (11%), Palm's webOS (4%) and Others (3%).

However, in 2010, eMarketer thinks Android will have bagged 31% of the market, ahead of iPhone (30%) and BlackBerry (23%), with Windows Phone remaining on 13%, webOS on 2% and others on 1%.

"With a growing roster of manufacturer and carrier partners in every major market and market segment, scale for Android is coming quickly in terms of device, market share, apps and ad revenues," says principal analyst Noah Elkin.

"Ultimately, the winner, if there is one, matters less than marketers’ ability to make the most of the growing number of smart devices to deliver rich, engaging experiences for consumers."