Google’s Android topped 4.6 million users at the end of Q1 to snatch Apple’s crown as the king of smartphone platforms in Japan.
The open source platform more than doubled its subscriber base from end 2010, with Apple ranking second at 3.9 million users, according to research firm comScore Japan KK. Two Android devices, the Sony Ericsson Xperia and Toshiba REGZA, made the list of top five handsets by model in Japan, with the other three being variants of Apple’s iPhone.
In a hint of growing smartphone adoption in the land of the rising sun, the research firm noted a 71% increase in smartphone users in Japan from September 2010 to March 2011. President of comScore Japan KK Daizo Nishitani said the proliferation of smartphone devices in Japan was increasing not only in Japan’s major cities such as Tokyo, but also minor regions.
Nishitani said the latest results could signal the beginning of change in the Japanese mobile market, which has long remained committed to proprietary operator-owned platforms till recent times.
Despite losing its number 1 spot, Apple’s iOS grew 17% to hit 3.9 million subscribers in the past six months. The top platforms together accounted for 87% of Japan’s smartphone market, which comScore estimated to consist of 9.7 million users.
IDC in March predicted smartphone shipments in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan will exceed 100 million units by year end.