I'm buying an Android... wait, make that iPhone

Could the iPhone 4S be an Android-killer?

While a quarter of US new phone buyers were willing to stump up for an iPhone in October, closer to half of those who purchased a smartphone in December opted for an iPhone, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen's research regularly surveys new phone buyers to ask what phone they intend to purchase and what phone they have purchased. The latest figures, released yesterday, showed that while 25.1% of new phone buyers had picked an iPhone in October, 44.5% of those buying in December picked iPhones.

Nielsen attributes the 20% increase in buyers wanting to get an iPhone between October and December to the release of the iPhone 4S -- there's no indication from their older data that phone buyers were holding off on buying iPhones with a new one in the works, for example.

Of those buying an iPhone in December, 57% purchased an iPhone 4S, suggesting that the older iPhones were also very popular.

The new iPhone 4S isn't the only factor, we suspect. One of Android's main advantages is its pricing and wide availability on carriers. The iPhone 4S is more widely available in the US than any previous version, and Apple simultaneously released cheaper versions of the 3GS and 4 for consumers. As a result, there are competitively priced iPhones with wide availability ffor the first time in the US.

We've contacted Vodafone to ask about iPhone sales in New Zealand since the 4S was released here, and we'll update the story when we hear back.

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