When visiting the U.K. and looking to see what phones the locals use, odds are that every other one has Google Android device in hand. The data shows that Apple’s market share in the U.K. has fallen to 18.5 percent, which is down from 33 percent last year. That reduction has allowed Research in Motion to capture the no. 2 spot with 22.5 percent of sales. Other notable figures outside the top three include Nokia devices (6 percent) and Microsoft handsets with a scant 1.4 percent of sales.
Will the market share mix continue with Android leading the pack? I imagine Android will continue to be the market leader, but Apple will leapfrog back over RIM thanks to the new iPhone 4S. There are surely buyers for both iPhones and BlackBerry devices, but in general, RIM still doesn’t offer near the experience, functionality or diversity of applications found on the latest iPhone. Perhaps that will change when RIM launches phones with the new BBX platform, but that’s looking like a 2012 event at this point.