New Gadget 2011

Android continues to rule the roost in the smartphone segment, in terms of sheer numbers at least, but Apple�s iPhone 4S launch bucked the overall trend in Q4 2011 with huge demand almost outweighing new Android sales. The figures, collected by Nielsen, suggest over 46-percent of US smartphone owners use an Android device in the final quarter of 2011, compared to 30-percent using an iPhone. However, by December, almost 45-percent of new smartphone buyers opted for one of Apple�s handsets.

The iPhone 4S launch, it�s suggested, ate heavily into Android sales demand. iPhone purchases kicked off at 25.1-percent of new buys in October 2011, with Android phones monopolizing sales at 61.6-percent, but Apple demand grew to 38.8-percent and then 44.5-percent in November and December respectively, while Android demand dipped to 48.7-percent and 46.9-percent of new buyer acquisitions in the final two months of the year.

In December, 57-percent of new iPhone buyers opted for an iPhone 4S, according to the research firm.

As for other platforms, RIM�s market share for BlackBerry devices sits at 14.9-percent among all smartphone owners, though demand in Q4 was down to just 6-percent of those shopping for handsets in the period. Windows Phone is at 1.3-percent, with a slight uptick in Q4 interest, while Symbian, webOS and Windows Mobile all saw dwindling interest.