Nielsen says Android is "most desired" smartphone platform

Reliable surveys come with a margin of error based on the survey size. One percent difference is typically within the margin for error.
The survey is old, prior to Verizon getting the iPhone, so then Verizon customers could not get an iPhone. That colors the survey as much as the Dewey vs Truman phone survey.

I wonder if anyone has done a study of the people that have switched from ios to android. I'm curious how many people would switch back to the ios. I have a feeling that the numbers would be pretty high.

I dont believe it. I was in My local Verizon store buying a iphone 4. I had upgraded to the newest iphone every year but a year ago I switched to a HTC incredible. I watched 4 new iphones walk out the door. While I was waiting I would listen to the customers ask questions about the android phones and then they would go over and look at the iphone. Every time they chose to buy the iphone. So I don't know

What is surprising is that iOS is still so popular despite the price premium over the now ubiquitous Android devices. Android provides options for all price points, while the iPhone is still pretty much a premium product with a premium price tag (yes, I know about last years $49 model, but who really wants that as the support for it is soon to be discontinued and it won't work as well as the iPhone4?). So, this is quite believable, but not the harbinger of doom that people are making it out to be.

I owned every iPhone from the 2G to the 3Gs. After the 3Gs, I switched to Android (Evo) and it's always interesting to watch Apple fans puzzle over why anyone would choose Android over the iPhone. They always cite things like a superior app store, cleaner OS etc. but obviously, if people are moving to Android in large numbers, those factors aren't as important to them as the Apple faithful would believe.

I personally switched for several reasons:

- Customizable, and not just wallpaper but every aspect of the interface as you see fit
- Much better control over all aspects of the phone at the system level, whereas with iOS only the most basic controls are exposed to the user
- widgets
- Phones available on pretty much every carrier out there (I passionately loathe AT&T after my iPhone experience)
- more "open" app store. Sure lack of curation on the Android store has its downsides, but for me it's a worthwhile tradeoff. I don't like the idea of any company limiting my access to apps based on their employee's narrow idea of what's useful, worthwhile, or appropriate
- I used to have a lot of respect for Steve Jobs, but in the past few years he's gone out of his way to make more enemies than friends and that really turns me off. I like companies that pursue the positive, not publicly trash everyone around them like some kind of jerk. I happen to like both Adobe and Google, and SJ's over-the-top rhetoric made me feel like I had to choose sides, so I did.
- Sorry, but the more agressive Apple fans have really turned me off to the whole thing. They really come off as smug, arrogant jerks a lot of the time, and after a while I no longer wanted to be associated with that crap.
- After playing with an Android phone for the first time I realized much of the trash talking was completely unfounded

These are my core reasons for switching. Say what you will, but I think many Android owners would agree with at least a few of my reasons. It's important to realize that the things iPhone lovers mention - games, app store and "polish - are neither the exclusive domain of Apple as they seem to think, NOR everyone's top priority. Not everyone is into playing games on a tiny 3" screen, and after downloading the 500th app most people realize they are "cool" but don't get used much anyway.
I want a phone that works well, is highly customizable and doesn't dictate my experience to me. Until Apple fans understand this, they will always puzzle at the Android defection.

This isn't meant to be an attack on Apple, just a view from the other side. For the record - I own a Mac Pro, Macbook and iPad, all of which I really love, so I'm not just some hater troll.

It doesn't mean that fewer people want an iPhone. Total number of people in or coming into the smartphone market keeps increasing. What it means is that a smaller percentage of the new users coming in (or those in and upgrading) are planning on iPhone -- it means that the iPhone numbers aren't increasing as fast as before, but they are still increasing.

If you look back to the first iPhone, 100% of people buying this class of device were buying iPhones (although even then, you wouldn't have had a 100% number on asking "What device do you intend to buy"; some would answer "Anything but Apple" or "Anything by AT&T"). As the Android device set continues to increase and fragment -- no individual device or manufacturer comes close to Apple numbers -- the numbers increase toward equilibrium.

An interesting number would be to see how these numbers have changed over repeated surveys. Android is up 5% this time, but wanna bet they were up 10% in the same period before that? That is, their total % may have exceeded Apple's, but their rate of increase is also going to be slowing.

Interesting though not surprising. Everyone and their mother has an iPhone. There are people out there that just want something different. That and the fact that the touch screen keyboard is not ideal for anyone who actually uses the phone for a phone. Further to that, likely a lot of iPhone owners now have iPads and will use them for non phone features and will look to a phone that will increase productivity.

I sent my son in to the VZ store to order an iPhone and the VZ rep told him the latest AND phone was "way better" and he have to contact customer service to get the iPhone. Evidentially they have a better incentive to sell AND than they do iPhones at VZ.

I'd say VZ should do a better job of training sales staff.

It should be pointed out that the survey was conducted between July and September of 2010, before the iPhone was available on Verizon and there were just vague rumors of when it might arrive. That could easily have led to a lot of Verizon owners responding that they would be buying a Droid next time around because they weren't switching carriers just to get an iPhone.

The fact that Verizon has sold 2.2 million iPhones since it arrived on the network speaks volumes.

If you want to say fandroid is the prefered "platform", you need to include the entire platform. So, throw in the dozen or so xooms, tabs, and s1/s2's that will be sold, then add the iPod touches and iPads. Now tell me what the preferred platform is.
Sincerely,
Dim