Android Passes iPhone as Most Desired Smartphone. Barely
Android has been outselling the iPhone recently but Apple's iPhone was still the most desired smartphone in the U.S., according to the Nielsen Co. Not anymore. Nielsen said 31.1 percent of respondents in March …
Context & Ripple Effects
Android's momentum had already shown up in U.S. sales overtaking the iPhone and in Nielsen's finding that it was most popular among recent smartphone buyers. The remaining distinction was preference: a January Nielsen reading still had Apple leading the broader smartphone race while Android attracted the newest customers.
March's narrow preference result closes that gap, turning Android's buyer momentum into a measure of stated demand as well. Nielsen's publication of the same findings gives the survey a direct industry benchmark rather than a single-outlet framing.
First-order effects
- Android handset makers gain a narrowly stronger preference signal among U.S. respondents, reinforcing the platform's sales momentum.
- Apple loses its lead in Nielsen's desired-smartphone measure, even as the margin indicates a closely contested choice for prospective buyers.
Second-order effects
- Android device vendors can compete more directly on handset features and carrier offers because the platform itself is no longer trailing iPhone in stated demand.
- Apple faces greater pressure to convert iPhone interest into purchases as Android's appeal among recent buyers and prospective-buyer preference begin to align.
Third-order effects
- If preference continues to follow recent-purchaser behavior, U.S. smartphone competition will be increasingly organized around operating-system ecosystems rather than a single flagship device.
- A near-tie in stated demand raises the value of recurring, comparable market surveys: platform leaders will be judged on both installed momentum and the next buyer's intent.
The trend: The U.S. smartphone market is moving from an iPhone-led device contest toward a platform contest in which Android's broad buyer appeal challenges Apple for preference as well as sales.