Which mobile platform should you pick? Android, iOS, Windows 8 or HTML5?

The last month has introduced much new food for thought if you are trying to decide which mobile platform to build on first:

Thirty days ago, you were probably thinking to start with iOS, not just because of the launch of the iPad Mini but also the preponderance of Apps in iTunes

Then Microsoft launched Windows 8 (and the Surface), driving a full-court press to get developers to build apps for the Windows Store

A few days later, IDC came out with the latest numbers, showing Android was crushing everyone, with a 75% market share of new phones sold in Q3.

As a result, some declared that iOS was going the way of the Dodo–until last week, when iOS (especially the iPad) crushed the competition in online purposes purchases on Black Friday.

It has definitely been an eventful pre-Holiday Season in mobile.

With all these different metrics and shifts in leadership, which platform do you pick? The market share leader (Android)? The eCommerce leader (iOS)? The one most familiar to enterprise (Windows)? The one most open of all (HTML5)?

If you are Fortune-500 company with a big mobile budget the decision is easy: build on several. If you are smaller, you probably can only build one or two at most (or at least one to start on first). Which one do pick?

Question 1: What is the (Intended) Usage Pattern of Your Customers?

Question 2: If You ARE Building an App, What Are Your Customer Demographics?

Apple iPad market share is dropping as rivals are catching up

The global tablet market continues to grow. According to market research group IDC, Apple, Samsung and co. shipped 27.8 million tablets in the past quarter, almost reaching the record of 28.2 million from last year’s holiday quarter.

With the iPad Mini, the first Windows 8 tablets and the popular $199 tablets from Google and Amazon all lined up for holiday season, the fourth quarter is likely going to be a blowout quarter for tablet vendors.

This chart shows global tablet shipments since the second quarter of 2012, the quarter in which Apple released the first iPad.



http://www.statista.com/topics/841/tablets/chart/695/global-tablet-shipments-since-q2-2010/

Meanwhile Apple’s market share in the global tablet market begins to erode. In the third quarter, Apple accounted for 50 percent of global tablet shipments, down from 66 percent in the June quarter and a new low since the introduction of the first iPad in April 2010. The launch of Google’s $199 Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon’s refresh of its popular Kindle Fire have clearly hurt Apple and the upcoming holiday quarter will show whether the iPad Mini can help Apple to re-strengthen its position. Starting at $329, Apple’s lower-end tablet is priced significantly higher than the entry models of Google and Amazon, a strategy that hasn’t fared well with many consumers.

This second chart shows global tablet market share in the third quarter of 2012, based on unit shipments.



http://www.statista.com/topics/841/tablets/chart/696/global-tablet-market-share-in-q3-2012/

Related articles

• Android gains momentum in the tablet market as Apple loses ground (itpro.co.uk)


• iPad dominance slides as Samsung and Amazon tap tablet sales (slashgear.com)


• IDC report: Tablet market grows nearly 50 percent, Apple loses iPad share (zdnet.com)


• Apple says it sold 3 million iPads over the weekend (kansascity.com)


• Apple loses ground in the tablet market to Android devices (neowin.net)

Who will be the largetst SmartPhone market?

Now this makes sense. According to market research firm IDC, China will overtake the United States this year to become the world’s largest smartphone market. China’s share of global smartphone shipments is expected to grow from 18.3 percent in 2011 to 26.5 percent in 2012. China’s market share is forecast to decline slightly until 2016, as smartphone adoption will accelerate in other emerging markets, such as India.

Smartphone adoption in the United States is starting to slow down and as emerging markets are quickly growing, the U.S. share of global shipments is expected to decline from 21.3 percent in 2011 to 14.5 percent in 2016.

Meanwhile, India could become the third largest market by 2016. IDC projects an average annual growth rate of more than 50 percent for the Indian smartphone market in the next five years.

The chart shows the five largest smartphone markets, based on their share of global smartphone shipments.

 

Source: http://www.statista.com/topics/840/smartphones/chart/585/china-to-become-the-largest-smartphone-market-in-2012/