According to a new press release issued today by research firm NPD, U.S. smartphone sales have seen strong growth from both iOS and Android while all other platforms continue to shrink.
The two platforms now make up 80% of the current U.S. smartphone market, having reshaped the smartphone industry in a profound manner, and posing a serious challenge to anyone who might challenge either platform in 2012:
Ross Rubin, executive director of Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group stated the following:
The competitive landscape for smartphones, which has been reshaped by Apple and Google, has ultimately forced every major handset provider through a major transition. For many of them, 2012 will be a critical year in assessing how effective their responses have been.
NPD has also released a comparative chart showing how market shares of various platforms have changed since 2006, when the smartphone boom really began.
It’s pretty fascinating to see how RIM and Windows Mobile sank swiftly and dramatically once the iPhone was released, quickly transitioning from the two top dogs in the smartphone industry to chew toys for Apple’s iPhone dogs.
