First-Time Smartphone Buyers Prefer Android to iPhone

Smartphones are the gadget du jour and Android is the top choice of first-time smartphone buyers, according to figures today (July 25) released by comScore. In the "old" days, a preference for Android could have been attributed to AT&T's lock on the iPhone, but no more. Verizon and Sprint offer iPhones, and even no-contract providers are getting in the game.  Cricket  and  Virgin Mobile  began selling prepaid iPhones last month. The study found that among people who bought their first smartphone in Feb., March and April of this year, 61.5 percent bought Android phones and 25.2 percent chose an iPhone, leaving just 7.1 percent to Microsoft and under 5 percent to RIM and its BlackBerry devices. However, among those who already owned a smartphone and upgraded to a new one during the same three months, the preference for Android was not quite so wide. About 54 percent chose Android devices, while 33.5 percent preferred iPhones. In the past year,  smartphone adoption  has grown rapidly with nearly 110 million Americans owning a smartphone in April 2012, up 44 percent from the previous year. The research firm predicts that within the year, smartphone owners will become the mobile majority.

• University Surplus StoreReveals Geek Treasures
• 4 Ways to Bring Instagram to Your Desktop
• Is Your Cellphone Under Surveillance?