[Graph] A Look at Global Smartphone Shipments, Holy Android

by: Kellex | posted 11.19.11 | News

Shipments, not units sold. Remember that when looking at this chart, but still feel free to let your jaw plant firmly on the floor below.

Via: Asymco, Fortune

http://k-selezneva.blogspot.com/ Katerina Selezneva

No doubts, Android is the market leader. I think important reasons for its success are reasonable prices of Android devices, and great possibilities of customization of your Android system like desktop widgets.
My 10 favorite Android widgets http://k-selezneva.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-10-favorite-android-widgets.html
Anonymous

: Not only is Android above everyone, it’s the only platform that is going up!
Jon Garrett

NOTE: shipped = sold….or do you think these phones are just shipped to retailer and carriers for free? they pay for each and everyone they receive so Id think that a phone shipped is a phone sold unless, like Apple, you’re shipping phones to your own retail stores.
Manuel Olague

this is proof that android is killing iOS and every other OS as well
Bryan Williams

Ok, so maybe some people are having a hard time reading this graph. Let me see if I can help…..
Dominick DeVito

It’s nice to see Android’s continued growth, but I think Google and its OEMs should spend more time on quality assurance (support, updates, etc). Too many phones are being shipped and the both the OEMs and carriers can’t keep up.
http://techreviewtoday.com/ Techreviewtoday

This is really a great advancement of Android. I like android and it’s features.
Justin Kos

yeaaaaa budddddayyY!
Anonymous

phlpn.es/7x9vmd
Anonymous

tinyurl.ie/7fb
Anonymous

We are Borg…you know the rest.
Anonymous

Why are so many people having difficulty with this graph?

Man, that Geico commercial may be right: smartphones really are making us dumb.
- David Pilsbury
  
  No kidding! Apparently most of these people should of paid attention during math class.
  - Trfking
    
    And some of these people should HAVE paid attention during English class.
Anonymous

tinyurl.ie/7fb
http://twitter.com/mechatricity Trent Russell

what a shitty graph.
David Delgado1

It’s a no brainier. IPhone fo sho!!!!
Obvious Sarcasm

OK….Trying to clear up the confusion about this graph…I’m not saying my graph reading skills are any better than everyone else..Just providing my input.

The graph’s top title is “Units Shipped by Smartphone Platform”.
To me that means DEVICES shipped by each platform INDIVIDUALLY. Disregarding any other platform on the chart.

The side title is “Millions of Smartphones Shipped”.
To me that takes the amount of DEVICES shipped by each platform and LIMITS it to just the smartphones. Otherwise the amount of devices shipped would be a lot more.

The sections on the bottom of the graph are marked, “Q2/2007″ through “Q2/2001″.
To me that indicates the time period that “X” amount devices were shipped.
For example, in “Q2/2009″ aka “2nd Quarter of 2009″, the ANDROID platform and OTHER platforms that aren’t listed on the chart SHIPPED approximately 40 million SMARTPHONES. Meaning 40 million smartphones were shipped for “Q2/2009″ alone, ignoring the other quarters on the chart.

So…at the end of “Q2/2011″, the ANDROID platform SHIPPED 120 million SMARTPHONES only. Not combined.

The rest of the platforms ended up selling less at the end of
“Q2/2011″ / beginning of “Q3/2011″(not shown on the graph), than during it.
Meaning, iOS SHIPPED approximately 20 million SMARTPHONES during “Q2/2011″, but at the end of the quarter or if you want, at the beginning of the next quarter, it shipped approximately 17 million.

In conclusion, this graph would be a lot clearer as a bar graph instead of a line graph.
In the next class we will go over how to read anagrams…;)
Tyler

Am i reading this wrong or does windows, blackberry, symbian, bada have more users worldwide than the iPhone?
Jeff Tycz

knowing how much is sold if far more important, If i take anything away from this chart is how many usless devices and phone manufacturers spamming the market have been released under android
Meatlover

Do realize though that the 20 million shipped for iOS is pretty much for just one phone (iphone 4s) . The 70 million for android has got to be across what, a dozen phones? So that would be like 6 or 7 million a phone compared to the iphone 4s’s 20 million. Iphone is still by far the most popular and that’s why you hear so much about it. So this chart does not have the jaw dropping effect for me.
- the3dolla
  
  Android is still flying past iOS, not Google’s fault if Apple doesn’t want more of the pie. Android dominates while Apple stagnates. The iPhone fanboys only have one choice, so that is why so many of one phone are sold.
  - Meatlover
    
    The iphone is not purchased just by fanboys and I would venture to say that the majority of iphone owners have no idea what iOS is. They just want an iphone because it works so smoothly and is super simple, they can just pick it up and start using it. It also has the most popular Apps. It has nothing to do with apple not offering more options. They are offering a phone and people love it. They are just one company with several companies competing in the android market. It’s not just apple vs google. Android has google, samsung, htc, motorola, etc…
    - Anonymous
      
      Are you kidding me? The people who don’t know what IOS is get an iPhone because it is socially acceptable. It’s the “hipster” thing to do. If Apple goes for an approach of 1 phone revision every year then it is their own damn fault for not venturing to every avenue. They run a closed and greedy market. Do they have great ideas? Absolutely! Android can learn a thing or two about IOS (and vice versa), but Apple is shooting themselves in the foot by their limited structure. It works great when their is a monopoly, but when another company comes along with a better idea, you have to change that structure. Apple is too smug to make any structural changes to battle in a now open market.
      - Anonymous
        
        Wouldn’t that then make it socially unacceptable to purchase an Android based phone? It’s Ignorant to believe that the iPhone only sells because it is socially acceptable or the “hipster” thing to purchase. For every one person that purchases an iPhone simply because it is an iPhone there is one person that is purchasing an android phone because it is an android phone.
      - Anonymous
        
        Well isn’t that just a false dilemma fallacy? If I claim iPhone is socially acceptable, then Android must clearly not be!
        Go back and read the preface to the argument you decided to attack me on “THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW WHAT IOS IS get an iPhone because it is socially acceptable” I will let you put 2 and 2 together on that one.
        
        “For every one person that purchases an iPhone simply because it is an iPhone there is one person that is purchasing an android phone because it is an android phone.” Clearly we are not looking at the same chart above then!
      - Anonymous
        
        “The iphone is not purchased just by fanboys and I would venture to say
        that the majority of iphone owners have no idea what iOS is. They just
        want an iphone because it works so smoothly and is super simple, they
        can just pick it up and start using it.”
        
        Go ahead and show me how you end up with “people who don’t know what iOS is get an iPhone because it is socially acceptable.” I’ll wait… Not only is it presumptuous to say that a majority of iPhone owners do not know of iOS, it is ignorant to think that the iPhone only sells because it is “socially acceptable.” If by socially acceptable you mean ease of use, excellent customer service, etc., then you would be correct, but we both know that your motive is more nefarious than that. You’d love for it to be true that only idiots and hipsters purchase the iPhone and that the smart, informed individual purchases an Android phone. There are just as many idiots that own an Android phone, if not more due to the larger user base.
        
        “Clearly we are not looking at the same chart above then!”
        
        You cannot even comprehend the simplest of arguments. I’ll make it even easier for you to understand. For every one iPhone fanboy, there is one Android fanboy, hence “For every one person that purchases an iPhone simply because it is an
        iPhone there is one person that is purchasing an android phone because
        it is an android phone.”
        
        Clearly your bias is creeping in if you think every one of those Android users knows they are using a phone with an Android OS. You cannot project your own knowledge of Android, which, I’m assuming, is atypical of the majority of Android owners.
      - Anonymous
        
        I can’t even begin to spell out every fallacy you have just put into each one of those 4 pointless paragraphs. Dude, obviously we are not on the same page and I believe I have made my point without going into a rant. I don’t plan on doing that now, so say what you will. More Android phones have shipped and sold than iPhones. That is fact. You can’t say it is a one to one comparison of unknowledgeable people on each side because that is your guess and VERY LIKELY incorrect from the data in the chart above. Learn to prove your point without going for personal attacks (like I am ignorant or unable to comprehend, understand, and unknowlegeable of Android) because it is a Straw Man fallacy. Go ahead, look it up, I’ll wait…
        
        Go ahead and post another drivel of a post, I’m done with you.
      - Anonymous
        
        I never argued that more Android phones have shipped and sold when compared to the iPhone. Stop introducing arguments that have no merit. With the sheer number of Android based handsets, it would be an indictment against Android if it didn’t outsell 3 current models from one manufacturer.
        
        This chart only tells a story of what phones were shipped based on OS. The data says nothing about the knowledge of the user base and to suggest it does is, how do I put this, STUPID! I’m making a generalization while you are trying to use this chart to state fact. That’s the difference. To act like an Android user is superior in comparison to an iPhone user is ridiculously ignorant and sheer fanboyism. You assume that Android has more knowledgeable users because of its larger user base but then you ignore the fact that it would also have an increased amount of unknowledgeable users. That makes a one-to-one comparison, using ratios, more likely than what you are advocating.
        
        You have proved no point and have resorted to twisting the data from this chart to support your flawed, biased arguments. Then you try to discredit me for using “personal attacks,” since you don’t have a leg to stand on.
      - Anonymous
        
        I would like to point out one simple thing about your argument. The iPhone has a long standing reputation of being bought because “all the other soccer moms have one” or “trendy Johnny has one”. I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to find a lot of that on the Android side other than “all the IT guys have one” or “all the geeks are sportin Android phones”. Not what you want to hear *obviously* but real life scenarios support this.
      - Anonymous
        
        And Android has a long standing reputation for being infested with malware, being difficult to use, being fragmented, and only used by nerds. Doesn’t make it true, now does it?
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Chad-Ramey/743058655 Chad Ramey
        
        http://youtu.be/eY0RCW24lTU
        this just about sums it up
- Anonymous
  
  but Apple takes more than a year to make a single phone. Had Samsung put all of their focus into the nexus for the past year, there would be no competition.
- http://twitter.com/MuftyDufty Daniel
  
  Why don’t we just be friends, iOS makes Android great, and Android makes iOS great, their both fine OS’s, why don’t we use our hatred where its deserved. Windows Phone
- Anonymous
  
  A dozen phones? Try 310…..and counting:
  
  http://antiroid.com/index.php/tag/215-carriers-offer-android-phones/
  
  And again, tell them to pay attention to their own blogger….Android reports units SHIPPED (or “activated”)……Apple reports units SOLD….so every unsold Android phone sitting on store shelves are counted as part of their “market share”. Apple only includes actual sales to end users in the tabulation of their numbers….
  
  Think that may skew the totals just a wee bit???
- Milski65
  
  So true. They’re comparing apples to oranges. I’m a strict android guy, but these numbers are severly skewed.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Chad-Ramey/743058655 Chad Ramey
  
  we were comparing opperating systems there skid row
- Genius
  
  Nothing new for Apple, history shows that they would rather have total control of their product, even at the cost of letting their competition dominate the market.
http://www.wps2012.cn 我的办公室

不错我会常来的
Sstauder82

I don’t understand how they say they have shipped 120 million devices but have 200 million activations and activate 550.000 units a day…math doesn’t add up.
- Anonymous
  
  This is just smartphones for one thing, not all devices
- geno villafano
  
  1 shipment ≠ 1 device. 1 shipment = many devices.
  
  Wait…maybe you’re right lol. I think they are talking about devices, but as Red Panda said it’s just smartphones.
- Meatlover
  
  The 120 million is across all platforms, not just android. Android made up about 70 million in that chart
  - Anonymous
    
    You obviously have no clue how to read a graph. The graph states how much each OS has sold and Android is 120 million. You take the entire graph, not just the portion that is shown.
    - Tool
      
      u r a 2L
    - Anonymous
      
      Your first sentence is so ironic.
      
      The graph is proportional, not cumulative. Do you honestly believe that the graph is telling you that Windows and “Other” out-sold iOS, BBM, and Symbian? The graph is essentially a pie chart from a different perspective–which provides historical data.
      
      To understand what Kellex is pointing out, focus on the slice of the graph that’s to the right of Q4/2010 and note the vast incline of Android versus the steep decline of all other OSes.
      
      As a statistician might point out, Android is proportionally the biggest slice of total shipments right now. It has also grown substantially over all others, while inversely, all others have sharply declined recently. The data also suggests that Android is greatly responsible for the recent expansion (explosion) of the smartphone market.
    - Anonymous
      
      While we are being dicks…do you know how to read? The graph is on shipments, not sold.
- Joseph Moreno
  
  the chart is missing a few months, and that 200 millions was fairly recent i believe
- http://twitter.com/Kanestapler Kane Stapler
  
  That 120 million number is just for that past quarter. So in quarter 3 alone they shipped 120 million. Because if you look at iOS their number dipped. So obviously they couldnt have “unshipped” iPhones, they just didnt sell as many as the last quarter.. Like everyone else said. Shipments != activations. *cough* *razr*
Anonymous

I love the graph but let’s be realistic here. Windows in 2009 and 2010 didn’t have squat to ship. I mean were there even any units available while Microsoft was going through their tiles transition? I hate to say it, but I call BS on this graph for that fact alone. Ain’t no way there were more Windows units to ship than iOS at that time. If they shipped that many, there has got to be one hell of a warehouse somewhere with millions of 6.x devices sitting in it
Anonymous

This is a pretty confusing chart. It looks like it says that there were 120 million Android phones shipped in Q2, however, if you look at the source link you’ll find that the 120 million is the total number of phones shipped across all platforms. Android was 70 million of that. It’s still pretty impressive to see that in just 2 years Android went from being an obscure OS to one that’s completely dominating the market.
Anonymous

Everyone’s dropping but Android. Now if only Google had it’s own network.
Anonymous

The big surprise here is that in the last half year every other os has declined, even though the overall market is still growing. That means Android isn’t just expanding the market-it’s taking customers from everyone else
http://www.facebook.com/mariafe.c.oneill Maria Fe Camaya O’Neill

Wow, these numbers are off the chart,literally,lol. Going to need bigger graph this time next year!
Donkey376

Android… The official smartphone of tracfone…
Mr. English

Not really that surprising considering there’s a buttload of hardware that sports android. If it was all good hardware it’d really be impressive and as the byline says, shipped doesn’t equal sold, nor does it equal happy consumers. Case in point, I just gave my xoom to my friend because it’s sat on my desk since February. It’s sold, it’s shipped, but it’s crap. Don’t really get the other systems still hanging on as droid and iOS is far more relevant, but then, everybody has their choice.
Anonymous

yawn…i am just getting up.

cumulative since Q2,2007 120 million units shipped or is this 120 million sold in just Q2,2011?
has to be the latter, right? excuse my (d)numbness.

world has 6 billion people. still a small fraction of units. but impressive in a way.
- 2ceedz
  
  “Shipments, not unit solds. Remember that when looking at this chart, but still feel free to let your jaw plant firmly on the floor below”
  
  Says units shipped.
- http://twitter.com/TheTechChat TheTechChat
  
  It’s cumulative, and that makes sense since Google said there were 100 million Android devices activated by May 2011. The end of Q2 is June, so 120 million seems about right.
  
  Then again that doesn’t make sense because certainly the number of iOS device shipped, cumulative, didn’t drop. It’s a bad chart…
  - http://www.facebook.com/dr.brown David Brown
    
    How would any of them have cumulatively shipped less when the graph goes down then? That doesn’t make sense.
    - DroidDuz
      
      Because it’s a terrible graph. Total units shipped cannot shrink. It is a mathematical impossibility.
      - Anonymous
        
        The graph is fine. Some people just have a terrible time of understanding all but the most basic graphs (it’s probably the reason why Statistics is a college-level course).
        
        This is a composition-type graph showing relative differences; it’s a stacked area chart.
  - Anonymous
    
    I don’t think this is cumulative.
- Jason Purp
  
  The world actually has about 7 billion people now or more.
  - Anonymous
    
    holy crap, i missed a billion people. i was not counting China :O)
    - Andrey Feldman
      
      if you weren’t counting apple you would have said 4 billion people
2ceedz

A no brainer to me… came to Android years ago (with THE Droid), and have converted almost everyone I know. (Sis still has to use BB at work)… was only a matter of time.

Open software is the best!!
- http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Mougey/510031546 John Mougey
  
  same here. slowly converting my fam and friends to android.
- the3dolla
  
  Same here, at work most are flocking to the better/more choices Android. ICS FTW!
- Anonymous
  
  It’s getting easier too. We are used to a community where everyone argues over the fine details of different phones…forgetting(in this example) that phones like the Nexus, RAZR, and Rezound are all extremely nice phones. I showed my RAZR to a non-technical friend who just recently got a 4S. He looked at it for two minutes before exclaiming, “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten an iPhone!!!!”
- Anonymous
  
  According to this graph, you could probably find dinosaur fossils in iOS
- Manuel Olague
  
  Me and my sister both got Droids last year (She was coming from BB and me from a dumbphone) and everyone in our family followed, but my brother-in-law joined the iPhone cult when it came to Verizon.
Jason Purp

Dayum!
- Some Random Dude
  
  Dat Graph
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000155987673 Austin Mutschler

1st and WOW!

[Graph] A Look at Global Smartphone Shipments, Holy Android

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