Android gains in US, basic phones almost extinct

The Google Android platform grabbed the majority of mobile phones in the US market in early 2014, as consumers all but abandoned non-smartphone handsets, a survey showed Friday. The poll by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found 53 percent of new mobile phones activated by US customers were Android devices in the January-March period. Apple's iOS, the platform used by the iPhone, accounted for 42 percent, the survey found. Windows and BlackBerry devices each accounted for one percent, while non-smartphones were just three percent, the research firm said. Late last year 20 percent bought a "basic" mobile phone. Research firm co-founder Mike Levin said Apple's iPhone user base "grew a little faster than Android, from a smaller base, even though in absolute terms Android -- used in Samsung phones -- had a larger share. He added: "The long-term issue is where Android and iOS growth will come from when there are no more basic phones being retired. First-time smartphone buyers are key to that equation." The report was based on a survey of 500 US adults, from April 1 to 6, who activated a new or used phone in the first three months of the year. Recent surveys of global phone users show Android has a nearly 80 percent share of smartphone sales.