There is so much hype about the iPhone thanks to Apple’s impressive marketing strategy that its competition, the Android phones, don’t seem to be as popular.  However, because iPhones are usually tied to a mobile carrier brand, its market is limited by the carrier’s market size.

Both mobile platforms offer the user the capability to do more online work and play on a smart phone device.  Both offer software development kits or SDKs for developers who want to create applications on these devices.

Both platforms have their loyal users.

The Android, an open source mobile platform developed by Google, has the advantage of being able to run open source applications that may be free or at least have lower cost than the proprietary applications that run on iPhone.  Android itself is open source and free and can be used on multiple devices from different manufacturers.  Android is based on the Linux operating System.  The iPhone platform, called the iOS, is stuck with the hardware produced by Apple.

In the Philippines, only Globe subscribers can use iPhones “officially”.  Users using other networks would have to risk losing the warranty of the device by modifying its setup such that the carrier restriction is removed.  Android can be used by any carrier thus its potential market size is much larger than that of the iPhone.

Worldwide also, iPhones are restricted to certain mobile carriers.  In the near future, it should not be surprising if Android phones will dominate the smart phone mobile market.