Android Continues to be Leader Among First Smartphone Buyers (Page 1)

Apple’s iPhone may have edged out Android’s sales figures in the final quarter of 2011 in U.S. smartphone sales, but Google’s platform has one key advantage that will have it hit back hard in 2012: it is bringing more newbies into the Smartphone world.

The latest research shows that 57 percent of first-time smartphone buyers chose Android devices last quarter, and the NPD group data also shows that only 34 percent of first-timers opted to purchase an iPhone.

“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,”  said Ross Rubin, executive director of Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group, in a statement. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”
Price would seem to be the most obvious factor.  Android handset makers like HTC, LG  and Motorola manufacture many lower-tier phones that far undercut the latest iPhone 4S and are a safer choice for newbies to figure out smartphones.

But the price of these devices isn’t the sole factor of the Android systems success. It doesn’t paint the whole picture as can be clearly read from NPD’s sales statistics for the iPhone 3GS, which AT&T is giving away for no charge with a two-year contract.

See Page 2