3 Reasons Apple Is Gaining Smartphone Market Share

smartphone

The other big gainer in the ComScore survey was Google's smartphone share which ComScore noted at 5.2 percent "gained considerably in the final months of 2009 and is poised for continued growth in 2010 with the introduction f new devices featuring the Android platform."

Overall, ComScore said smartphone market penetration "continued to climb" in 2009 with smartphones accounting for 17 percent of mobile phone subscribers in December 2009, up nearly 6 percentage points from one year ago.

ComScore said that RIM, with its Blackberry device retained the top market share position with 41.6 percent of the smartphone market in December 2009 followed by Apple at 25.3 percent. Here are three reasons Apple's smartphone market share is soaring.

1. The Apple iPhone App Store

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It's not the mobile device stupid! It's all about the content. So far more than 2 billion applications have been downloaded from the Apple iPhone App Store. That's not a misprint. And it's growing at an astronomical rate with each passing day. The big story here is that there is a HUGE influx of new business iPhone apps. Those apps are reshaping how business users consume IT.

Apple says that the iPhone "gets better with every new app." It's not hype. It's all about compelling content. Apple has it and the other smartphone players are running hard to get it.

2. The iPhone Just Keeps Getting Better

Apple has done a great job of continuously improving the iPhone with new features and capabilities that keep the iPhone well ahead of the competition. The biggest game changer in 2010 will be a dramatic improvement in network quality. AT&T's poor performance as the exclusive iPhone carrier is a sore spot for iPhone fanatics. The stories of dropped calls, poor signal strength and coverage has been the biggest criticism of the iPhone.

3. Steve Jobs

Apple CEO Steve Jobs did it with iTunes and the iPod. And now he's doing it with smartphones with the iPhone and the iPhone App Store. Never in the history of capitalism has one man reinvented two completely different businesses: the music business and the phone business.

The Apple iPhone created a new class of phone. Apple invented the market and every other mobile device maker is chasing Apple. And you can bet Jobs is working on the next smartphone game changer. He is Apple's not so secret weapon in the intensely competitive smartphone market.