December 17, 2009: Apple finally triumphs over longtime rival Microsoft … on mobile operating systems market share. New data shows that iPhone OS surpasses Windows Mobile in the United States for the first time, just two years after the original iPhone’s launch.
With roughly 36 million Americans owning smartphones, a quarter of them run Apple’s mobile operating system, according to figures released by research firm Comscore.
Mobile phones mark a turning point in tech
This quiet but seismic shift in the smartphone landscape showed the massive appeal of the iPhone and Apple’s radically different vision for handheld computing. What began as a niche, touch-first platform two years earlier upended all the assumptions about how people interact with phones. iPhone OS set the stage for the era of app ecosystems, touch-driven interfaces, and truly ubiquitous computing.
Still, Apple’s iPhone operating system wasn’t at the top of the heap — at least not yet. The undisputed leader at the time was Research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS, found on 40% of U.S. handsets. Apple’s iPhone OS (later shortened to “iOS“) came in second. Microsoft took third, followed by Palm OS, then Symbian and (in last position) Google’s Android operating system.
These adoption figures represented a turning point in tech. At the time, Microsoft led Apple in terms of market valuation, although clearly things were changing fast. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone, which he slated as an unserious competitor to his company’s Windows Mobile.
But by the following May, Apple overtook Microsoft in market capitalization, surpassing the tech giant that dominated Cupertino during the previous decade. And by the end of 2010, Microsoft dropped its Windows Mobile operating system in favor of Windows Phone OS.
The long list of rival mobile operating systems from 2009 also sheds light on how much things have changed in the years since. BlackBerry, then the industry leader, is an afterthought now. Palm OS and Symbian have been discontinued. Aside from iOS, the only other mobile operating system to flourish is Android.
Mobile operating systems evolve
Photo: ComScore
Figures from November 2025 show that current U.S. smartphone operating system adoption breaks down like this: iOS runs on 58.91% of devices and Android on 40.82%. Android does better internationally, claiming 71.94% of the market versus Apple’s 27.64%, due to the success of less-expensive Android smartphones around the world. Worldwide, competitors to iOS and Android remain negligible slivers that capture less than 1% of the market.
Things sure have changed in the past decade and a half. Although smartphone sales have plateaued, the iPhone continues to generate massive revenue for Apple. And Apple looks likely to surpass Samsung this year as the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, due to the wild success of the iPhone 16 and 17 lineup.
Which mobile operating system and handset were you using back in December 2009? Let us know in the comments below.
