Android's Net Usage Fell For The First Time Ever In The U.S.

While Android is a juggernaut on a global basis, in the U.S. its net usage is falling ever so slightly, notes Horace Dediu at Asymco.

The latest data from comScore shows Android has 52% of 142 million U.S. smartphone users. That's 73.84 million Android users.

The same data from comScore last month showed Android with 52.4% of 141 million smartphone users in the U.S., which is 73.88 million users.

Dediu says, "The difference is surely within a margin of error so it’s not something to declare definitively, but the pattern of Android 'peaking' has been evident for some time."

That's one way to look at it.

But, this is in the U.S. Globally, Android is a still on a tear. It has 80% of the total market, according to IDC.

And IDC says worldwide smartphone sales were up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. comScore says U.S. smartphone sales were up 29% on a year-over-year basis.

From our perspective, this is further evidence to us that when Apple is on equal footing with Android in terms of price and distribution, it can slow, and beat, the rise of Android.

In the U.S., the iPhone is now on all the major carriers, at subsidized prices that make it cost as much as any Android phone. Around the world, the iPhone is much more expensive on a relative basis, and it's on fewer carriers. This is allowing Android to eat up market share.

Unless Apple plans to shake up its iPhone business with a lower cost phone available to more people around the world, Android will continue to lead globally.

In the U.S., Android may be hitting a wall, but the U.S. smartphone market is mature, slowing, and small compared to the rest of the world.

Apple's victory in the U.S. is nice, but doesn't change the overall story. It needs to do something about the rest of the world.