Apple responds to NPD’s Android sales figures

Apple responds to NPD’s Android sales figures

The Loop got word from an Apple spokesperson today in regards to sales figures released by NPD yesterday on US smart phone sales for the first quarter of 2010.

Natalie Harison had this to say to The Loop :

This is a very limited report on 150,000 US consumers responding to an online survey and does not account for the more than 85 million iPhone and iPod touch customers worldwide.

IDC figures show that iPhone has 16.1 percent of the smartphone market and growing, far outselling Android on a worldwide basis. We had a record quarter with iPhone sales growing by 131 percent and with our new iPhone OS 4.0 software coming this summer, we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon.

There is no direct reference to the US sales figures in this rebuttal. But then NPD’s report doesn’t actually cover several other pertinent details. So I’d say that is fair enough. Especially, as we noted yesterday, that this report may not be as accurate as it claims to be.

The Loop and Technologizer point out, on Apple’s behalf, that smart phones other than those made by Apple are being offered in deals such as buy-one-get-one-free, and even from Amazon for as little as 1 cent.

There is no doubt that one of the reasons US sales of Android are on the rise is because they are available on networks which are more popular than the only network the iPhone is available via. US consumers can only hope that Apple address this. But Android and RIM smartphones are also being offered at bargain bucket prices in the US, whilst the iPhone is not, and never has been. Apple obviously don’t feel the need.

And when you look at their market share globally it is easy to see why.

Do you think it is crucial for Apple to get the iPhone on another network (Verizon?) as well as AT&T? Sure we’d all love cheaper toys, but should they join battle with Android and RIM and slash their iPhone prices? Or are they doing just fine with their current pricing model? Let us know in the comments.

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