Web usage in North America by Motorola smartphone users is closing in on HTC for second place behind Samsung, according to Chitika Insights, which samples millions of online ad impressions to reach its conclusions.
Part of Motorola's recent success is due to the introduction in August of its flagship phone, the 4.7-in. Moto X smartphone, the first Motorola device launched since Google bought the company in 2012. The device initially sold for $200 and a two-year contract for the 16GB version.
The Moto X smartphone is the first phone Motorola released since it was acquired by Google.
Chitika's findings will take on more meaning as Motorola prepares to announce the Moto G on Wednesday. The Moto G is said to be a low-priced version of the Moto X, which only sells in the U.S. The Moto G would have a 4.5-in. display and sell for $250 unlocked, according to various reports, well below the unlocked price of many phones on the market.
Chitika found that the Moto X got 1.8% of Motorola's smartphone Web traffic in October, up from 1.2% about a month earlier. Motorola smartphones comprised 4.1% of all North American smartphone Web traffic by the end of October.
By comparison, HTC had 4.2% of all North American smartphone Web traffic by the end of October, Chitika found.
"With HTC still struggling to find a new hit smartphone in the North American market, combined with Motorola's slate of new product releases [including the Moto G], it is reasonable to assume that Motorola's usage share will likely surpass HTC's share in the near future,"Chitika said in a blog Tuesday. http://chitika.com/insights/2013/motorola-growth-analysis
Samsung is the giant in Android smartphone Web traffic in North America, well ahead of HTC. Chitika found Samsung held a 47.2% share in July, compared to 9.7% for HTC and 9.5% for Motorola at the time.
This article, Moto G may help Motorola gain Web traffic in race with HTC smartphones, was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.
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