Android is a phenomenon. We know this, I’ve talked about it before, but the proof is in the numbers. And Android is up over 886% since last Q2. It now owns 34% of the US smarthphone market, which isn’t a dent, since RIM only has 32%. And Apple at a staggering 21.7%. How terrible!

But seriously, the reason for its explosive growth is likely the November 2009 release of the Motorola Droid on Verizon, followed by several high-profile devices on Verizon and Sprint. On Verizon, the Droid Incredible, Droid X and the Samsung Fascinate, and on Sprint the EVO 4G, the Epic 4G are all top tier phones. Their specs speak for themselves. On T-Mobile, their only major player has been the MyTouch 3G Slide, which has done very well, and they now have their own Galaxy S variant, the Vibrant. AT&T isn’t floundering, either, after launching their somewhat-crippled Galaxy S version, the Captivate, last month.

Each carrier has done well bringing Android to its customers, but none better than Verizon. The Droid 2 will be launching this month as well on Froyo. Android’s growth won’t be slowing down any time soon, but with great power comes great responsibility. Android 2.2 is being pushed to most recently-released devices such as the EVO 4G, Droid X, Droid, Vibrant and more. While it brings the platform closer to competing directly with the iPhone 4, it does not yet have the polish that iOS displays in all facets of the operating system. Apps crash or freeze, the keyboard often doesn’t register input, and it generally fails to perform flawlessly.

iOS4 has not been without its own problems, but since it is built on the solid framework of iOS 3.1.3, it appears more reliable in daily use.

As long as it continues to be AT&T exclusive, however, the iPhone will never reach the incredible sales heights of Android. Bring it to Verizon, however, and we are playing a different ball game.