As I said will happen over a month ago, Android devices outsold Apple’s iPhones in the first half of 2010.

Android phones accounted for 27 percent of all smart phone sales while the iPhone got 23 percent in the first half of the year. RIM’s Blackberries led the pack — and trailed in media coverage — with a 33 percent share of smart phone sales.

I also continue to believe that when an Android tablet comes out, it’ll outsell the iPad in short order.

The is happening because multiple manufacturers, from Samsung to HTC to Motorola, make Android smart phones. Every major wireless carrier in the U.S. sells an Android phone. Conversely, the iPhone is made by one company, and sold by just one wireless carrier.

This is why a smart phone sales analysis ultimately doesn’t matter. It isn’t news that 10 devices outsold the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 4.

When the Droid X outsells the iPhone, that will be news. (Won’t happen, but still…)

When Sprint’s EVO Android phone outsells the iPhone, that’ll be news. (Won’t happen, but still…)

But when a gang of phones outsell a single device, it’s just as interesting as when all the Windows PC makers put together outsell the Mac. It’s not interesting, it’s completely expected, and it’s not news.

What is news? That these Android phones are really good. Excellent, really. They lack a bit of the iPhone’s grace and elegance, but all non-Apple devices do.

Android phones are now a real alternative to the iPhone. That’s the news.