Android blooms in Apple's productless summer: Half-a-million activations per day

Android is blooming in Apple's productless summer. Various studies point to the inevitable prospect of Google Android OS-based marching ahead of Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Andy Rubin, Google's vice-president of engineering, said over 500,000 Android devices are activated every day, adding that the rate of activation of Android devices is growing 4.4 percent every week.

New data shows the Android breed of smartphones and tablet computers have strengthened their presence over the last year. Google's Eric Schmidt had said last year that said there were 200,000 Android activations per day. In the beginning of the year this number stood at 300,000.

PCMag has pointed out that Android devices do not face any competition from Apple this summer. The main reason is the uncertainty in the market over when Apple will launch its next iPhone.
There has been speculation that iPhone 5 will hit market in September, but details are sketchy, or rather belong to the realm of imagination.

While Apple conventionally plays its card close to chest, what is painfully certain is that many vaulted features in the iOS 5, the new version of Apple's mobile operating system, are already featured in a host of android devices.

With a bevy of formidable devices, the Android camp is set to steal Apple's thunder. A recent IDC survey predicted that Android will capture 40 percent of the market in the second half of of this year.

One important factor driving Android's march is the preference of vendors and carriers. The IDC study says a growing list of vendors have made Android the cornerstone of their respective smartphones strategies. The survey said Android's market share will rise to 43 percent by 2015.

Significantly, the survey says iOS will not be at the second spot, which it will loose to Windows Phone.

Indeed, a productless summer is not helping Apple's cause. Without a new iPhone 5 on the market, more and more users could fall into the temptation of buying an Android smartphone instead of waiting (for how long?) for Apple’s next smartphone to hit the stores, Radu Tyrsina wrote in nextiphonenews.

At the same time, the Android camp is brimming over with action with new handsets, new releases, and new tie-ups.

T-Mobile is blazing the summer Android launch trail by launching the HTC Sensation 4G, Samsung Gravity Smart and Samsung Exhibit 4G in quick succession. Sprint has lined up three handsets, HTC Evo 3D, the Motorola XPRT, and the Motorola Titanium. AT&T was up to speed by the announcement of Android-based Pantech phone Crossover.

Though Verizon appears not to have any earthshaking smart phone announcement to make, it has showcased 4G LTE version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. And then HTC Evo 3D on AT&T and T-Mobile... the Android legion is swelling.

Topping the list of formidable Apple adversaries is Google Nexus 4G LTE phone, which will be arriving around Thanksgiving.

DigiTimes reported early this month that Apple iPhone's growth in the U.S. market will be curtailed by the expansion of Android-based handsets.With more Android-based devices hitting store shelves in the second half of 2011, the Google smartphone OS will further widen its gap with iOS thanks to its more complete ecosystem the report said.

A Nielsen survey showed Android devices have become the most popular smartphones in the US, and are set to leave Apple iPhones way behind. The survey also finds Google's Android operating system (OS) is the most popular among mobile operating systems.

As many as 36 percent mobile users in the US now use an Android devices, while iPhone’s share has dwindled to just 26 percent.