Recently the research firm ComScore has affirmed what we have seen on the streets : touch-based phones are selling like hotcakes.’a0 According to the figures, touch-based mobile phone adoption grew at an alarming 159% year over year between August 2008 and August 2009.
What phone is leading the way?’a0 The obvious answer is the Apple iPhone, claiming the top touch-screen device spot for users aged 13+.’a0 The iPhone accounted for almost 33% of all touch-screen purchases in the time frame.’a0 The second place device was the LG Dare, claiming a mere 8.7% of the touch-screen phone market.
ComScore’s Mark Donovan doesn’t expect this fast moving smartphone adoption trend to continue, although it might look a bit different going forward.’a0 According to Donovan, additional touchscreen devices will be sold with more and more running the Android operating system.’a0 With all the Android devices including the HTC Hero, Motorola CLIQ (known as DEXT internationally) and the Droid, this Android prediction is not hard to fathom.
It is astounding to note that, as of August 2009, there are 23.8 million touch-phone users in the United States, up from just 9.2 million touch users in August 2008.’a0 This is a huge market opportunity that is just now being realized.
A year ago, it used to be that the iPhone was main touch phone to pay attention to, with many wannabees vying for the rest of the market.’a0 However, with Android now maturing and seeing vast hardware support from multiple manufacturers, along with some great new touch devices from Nokia including the N97, XpressMusic 5800 and N900 tablet, it is apparent that touch devices are here to stay with continued growth being a sure thing.
(Photo Credit: Daniel^1977)