Since its launch, the Android smartphone operating system has quickly eaten up marketshare once thought to be the exclusive property of Steve Jobs and Mark Lazaridis.
According to the Nielsen Company, Android now owns 29% of marketshare, having just surpassed RIM Blackberry (27%) and the Apple iOS (27%) and it’s not just young people jumping on the Android bandwagon. Below are Nielsen’s results compiled visually:
What real estate must know about Android
Real estate agents, marketers and companies must stop ignoring Android. When we get word that a brokerage has launched a brand new revolutionary magical awesome iPhone app, we look at our watches and see that it’s 2011 and sigh for them- the word should be that their three year old iPhone app is doing well and they’re launching an Android app which should have been released in 2010.
Android developers versus iPhone developers
Apple has an air of proprietary technologies which is reflected in the developer community. What I mean by that is that a person who develops applications much jump through many many hoops and get Saint Jobs’ approval (not literally, calm down Mac fans) on their creation.
Android has an air of open source development which means the person creating applications for use on Android has very few hoops to jump through and barring that it is malware, it will be admitted into the Android Market.
Some argue that the quality of apps are higher on Apple because of their approach toward the developer community and while that may be true, the talent pool is slowly shrinking up as the creative developers are focusing their talent on the development of Android apps and turning away from hoop jumping for Apple.
Available apps on Android
Despite its youth, the Android market has endless applications that are free and creative giving real estate seekers tools not just for search but for planning, calculating and the like. There are endless free apps for real estate professionals and business professionals as well, and it’s still in its infancy.
The consumer experience
Consumers are showing a growing preference for Android on their phone not just because they don’t have to jailbreak their phone and void their warranty for a variety of uses, but because of the actual devices available running Android not to mention the option to use all network carriers.
Your own broker’s Android app
If your company just released an iphone app, congrats, but you’ve already left out the biggest segment of the industry and I can tell you from a personal standpoint as an Android user, there is a growing disgust for companies who are all in on iPhone apps that have ignored Android users.
Consumers are searching for real estate more frequently from their smartphone today and development of applications to supplement this process are on the rise and brokerages and search companies using creative measures to creatively aide consumers will win the race.
