Android based cellphones have surpassed iPhone sales in the first quarter of the year 2010. This study was published in  a report by research firm The NPD Group. The data is valid only for the US.  It places RIM’s Blackberry at top with 36% of sales followed by Android with 28% of sales. Apple iPhone recorded a 21% of total cellphone sales, which puts it behind Android. A large part of this sale drive is credited to Verizon which went out of its way to promote Android with a $100 million marketing campaign. An extract from the report says,

Strong sales of the Droid, Droid Eris, and Blackberry Curve via these promotions helped keep Verizon Wireless’s smartphone sales on par with AT&T in Q1. According to NPD’s  Mobile Phone Track, smartphone sales at AT&T comprised nearly a third of the entire smartphone market (32 percent), followed by Verizon Wireless (30 percent), T-Mobile (17 percent) and Sprint (15 percent).

Android is gaining steadily and stably. It has an awesome community and has created a secure ecosystem for itself. This report places Android ahead by only a small fraction, for only one quarter and in only a single country. Though, soon this situation may extend to a larger scale. Given the rigidity Apple is showing nowadays, Android handsets offer an equally competitive and far more flexible product at a lesser price. This is a win for Android and the day is soon when it will get ahead of iPhone in this smartphone race. (Via:Venturebeat)