Nielsen says Android is "most desired" smartphone platform

Nielsen released its early 2011 survey numbers, and the results suggest Android popularity is on the rise and iOS is declining in the US. In this latest consumer survey, Android edges out the iPhone as the most desired smartphone platform.

When asking respondents about the next handset they intend to buy, 31.1 percent said they would purchase an Android device, while 30 percent said they wanted an iPhone. This is a 5.6 percentage point increase for Android, which climbed from 25.5 percent, and a 2.7 percentage point decline for iOS, which was previously at 32.7 percent. This earlier survey was taken between July 2010 to September 2010.

Interestingly enough, this decline in iOS occurred even though Apple expanded its presence in the US by launching the Verizon iPhone. This early result suggests the expansion of the iPhone to another carrier did little to combat the popularity of Android and stem its tidal wave of devices, many of which are 4G and powered by dual-core processors.

So what do you think, are consumers really giving up the polished operating system and robust app store of iOS just for some horsepower? Will there be some buyer's remorse when the iPhone 5 arrives later this year?

[Via GigaOM]