Android über alles: Google’s OS now makes up majority of all smartphone sales

Android accounts for 61 percent of all smartphone sales, according to data published today by NPD Group.

That number is trailed by the 29-percent stake claimed by iOS devices, and RIM and Windows Phone are nowhere close.

These figures for the first quarter of 2012 represent healthy growth for Android, which had previously slumped to a 49 percent share of smartphone sales.

Smartphone sales still only make up 66 percent of all mobile phone sales, but that’s just sales of new devices. Separate research from Nielsen shows that as of March 2012, more than 50 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones, up from 47.8 percent at the end of 2011.

Also from Nielsen, we learn that for currently activated smartphones, Android grabs 48.5 percent of the market, a healthy lead on Apple iOS’s 32 percent.

Other highlights from Nielsen’s numbers include:

• The ladies: 50.9 percent of female mobile subscribers used smartphones compared to 50.1 percent for men.
• The (relatively) youngsters: More than two out of three people ages 25 to 34 have a smartphone.
• Asian Americans: This group leads smartphone adoption with 67.3 percent using a smartphone as their primary mobile handset.

However, other Android-related news today (Google getting a partial guilty verdict in a landmark court battle with Oracle) has us wondering how much market domination is worth if your product ends up getting nickel-and-dimed into unprofitability.

via Cnet

Top image courtesy of laihui, Flickr.