Android adoption rate 6 times faster than that of iPhone: Research

An unexpected Internet trends report by KPCB partner Mary Meeker highlighted that Android adoption is growing at a rate that is six times faster that of the iPhone. If that wasn’t good enough news for Android users around the world, Meeker shared that the Google-owned platform raced ahead of even Windows to claim the title of the number one OS for Internet-enabled devices in Q1 2012, reports TechCrunch.

The numbers are not surprising if one were to consider the recent activity in the Android domain. Google-owned Android turned five this week. According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Android smartphone shipments worldwide reached 136 million units, accounting for 75 percent of the 181.1 million smartphones shipped in the third quarter of 2012. The 91.5 percent year-over-year growth was nearly double the overall market growth rate of 46.4 percent.

In the stats that Meeker shared, she made it clear that the iPad adoption rate was as much as five times that of the iPhone.

Android adoption 6 times faster than iPhone

Highlighting other parts of her research, Meeker shared that there will be one billion smartphone users by the end of 2012. The number of mobile phone users is projected to reach five billion by the end of 2012, depicting the burgeoning popularity of the phones of a cheaper variety. TechCrunch shares that as per Meeker’s figures in May, there were 953 million smartphone subscriptions and 6.1 billion mobile phone subscriptions, “though those count multiple subscriptions by the same person.”

Elaborating further about the presence of more Internet-enabled Android devices than Windows ones, Meeker shared that in Q1 2012, the former raced ahead of the latter. At the time, Android was at around 90 million units shipped per quarter. Meeker adds that by the end of 2013, there will be 160 million Android devices, 100 million Windows devices, and 80 million iOS devices shipped per quarter. Meeker soon concluded her presentation, but not before adding that by the end of Q2 2013, global smartphone plus tablet install base will be ahead of the install base of the PC.

Going further, the report shared, "Meeker concluded her presentation with a review of how various industries were being redefined, but first took a minute to review Mark Zuckerberg’s thoughts on mobile. Here’s what Zuck said in his letter to potential shareholders as part of Facebook’s S-1 to IPO:

We hope to rewire the way people spread and consume information…We think a more open and connected world will help create a stronger economy with more authentic businesses that build better products and services.

Meeker said the quote by Zuckerberg was a “very arrogant statement, but likely true and certainly a big idea.”"