Nielsen says iPhone drowning out Android attention

The iPhone 4S is overwhelming talk of other smartphones as holiday picks, Nielsen tracked on Friday. The new iPhone has consistently been the most talked-about device in news and social, at about 40 percent between July and early December. When joined with other iPhone models, Apple had 66 percent of all the buzz, or three times as much as Google's 23 percent for Android.

The rest of the device-specific attention was scattered across multiple devices. The iPhone 4 was still in second place and eclipsing any other platform. About 23 percent of the chatter from July through December was scattered across a handful of Android devices, such as the Galaxy Nexus, Droid Bionic, and HTC's combined Evo series. BlackBerry devices were about 10 percent of the split, with the majority of that share, or six percent, belonging to the Bold series.

Buzz doesn't automatically translate to market share, where Android is still in front as of results from this past summer. However, it points to holiday sales possibly being much brisker than usual for the iPhone and possibly hurting Android's market share. Apple's need to move the iPhone 4S release to October may have helped by giving it a very recent device to sell right at the holiday season peak.

Both the Droid Bionic and Evo 3D have largely been eclipsed by newer Motorola and HTC phones, and the Galaxy Nexus won't be available in the US until around December 15, based on tips, wasting most of an early opportunity for Samsung and Verizon.

By Electronista Staff