Android smartphones now 54 percent of market, as voice-only plans decline

In-Stat and the NPD Group released reports this week that, together, offer a fuller picture of the industry's growth from respective sides of the mobile fence – enterprise and consumer.

Enterprises, said In-Stat, are expected to drive spending on bundled voice, messaging and data plans by 37% between 2011 and 2015, as the result of mobile workers transitioning from "virtual offices" to working "virtually everywhere."

“Across all sizes of business, more and more businesses are realizing the benefits of having data access in their wireless handsets,” said analyst Greg Potter, offering a quote that may have been pulled from any statement from over the last decade. The operative word, however, is data.

With analysts widely reporting that voice revenues are gradually ceding their leading position to data revenues, In-Stat confirms that a number of mid-size businesses are moving from voice-only plans to voice and messaging plans, with the latter such plans expected to rise 44% during the forecast period. Voice and messaging only plans are expected to peak in 2011, at $3.1 billion, and then begin a slow decline.

NPD, meanwhile, offered insight into the devices accessing all that data — which, overwhelmingly, are running Android.

In the United States, 52% of all devices sold during the second quarter ran Android. Apple, which like Google increased its share during the quarter, accounted for 29% of sales, while BlackBerry handsets, down from Q1, grabbed 11% and Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile and WebOS each received less than 5%.

(Given HP's hugely successful TouchPad fire sale — combined with its quitting WebOS — what a fun thing the Q3 sales charts should be!)

With Samsung and LG both experiencing gains, thanks to their Android efforts, Motorola — a company with historically strong sellers on either side of the fence — saw its mobile phone and smartphone shares fall, with Android OS sales, at 22%, just half of what they were a year ago.

New-owner Google, said NPD, may want to try a Moto comeback plan focused on the growing pre-paid market. Both NPD and the New Millennium Research Council (CP: Sprint's Boost Mobile the preferred carrier in growing prepaid market) are reporting big growth in this segment, with NPD finding one in five new handsets acquired in Q2 to be on prepaid plan and NMRC reporting that non-contract prepaid subscriptions now account for "roughly 25% of the total wireless picture."

"Android is also leading the charge in the rapidly growing prepaid smartphone market," said NPD's Rubin. "This was once a key segment for Motorola that the company has an opportunity to reclaim as prepaid carriers build their smartphone portfolios."