More New Users Choose iPhones Over Android Smartphones: Nielsen

Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android creator Andy Rubin said Android is being activated on more than 500,000 smartphones and tablets each day, and yet there is mounting evidence that Android handset growth is flattening while Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone sales grow.

Nielsen is the latest research to pour gas on this contentious fire. The researcher  discovered that while Android still paced the U.S. smartphone market with 38 percent market share through May (up from 36 percent in April), its growth of recent acquirers flattened over the last few months.

Android accounted for 27 percent of the new smartphone acquirers from March through May. While Android is still the leader in recent acquirers, that 27 percent figure matches its new acquirer growth from December through February, leading Nielsen to conclude that Android sales are being curtailed.

But from what? The iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZW), which launched in January, could be the culprit.

Apple, whose U.S. smartphone share grew from 26 percent in April to 27 percent in May, saw its recent acquirer share grow 7 percent, from 10 percent from December to February to 17 percent from March to May.

The iPhone is on the upswing as Apple steams toward an iPhone 5 launch later this summer.

To read the original eWeek article, click here: iPhone Share Growing Faster Than Android Smartphones: Nielsen