Motorola DROID boosting Android’s popularity

In November 2009, Verizon had been applauded for launching two new Android running phones, the HTC DROID Eris and the Motorola DROID. The latter of the two seems to really have hit a spot with Verizon customers as it is steadily making Android a lot more popular within the United States and worldwide.

One of the latest smartphones from Verizon features comparable specs and pricing to the iPhone 3GS, thus having earned the title “iPhone-killer” on the Verizon network. How many phones have been giving that title and actually could contend against the iPhone? Not many, unfortunately. AdMob has some interesting statistics about the Android traffic in November, and who supplied much of the traffic. Android smartphones have generated a 37% increase in November, and the Motorola DROID accounts for 25% of that growth. Such high usage by DROID users places the Verizon smartphone fifth highest in the United States passing Android cousins such as the HTC Hero, HTC myTouch 3G, and Motorola CLIQ. As early as six months ago, the T-Mobile G1 (the pioneer of Android phones) generated all traffic usage of Android phones coming in at 92%. However, as of November, it only accounted 37%, and consider how many users the G1 has accumulated in all the time it has been available.

In terms of worldwide usage of Android phones, the Motorola DROID had 22%, followed closely by the HTC Magic at 21%, and the HTC Hero at 9%. From October to November, Android saw an increase in requests from 20%-27%, catalyzed by robust marketing campaigns on Verizon’s and Motorola’s part. While the T-Mobile G1 still had the most usage in November, the Motorola DROID was second. Within a few months, it looks like Motorola with its DROID could easily become the top Android phone in the United States.

Motorola seems to have found a nice combination of hardware and design in the DROID. And Verizon finally picked a winning phone and stuck an affordable and competitive price tag on it.

Read [AndroidandMe] Via [AdMob]