Maybe Google really has found the way to challenge Apple’s iPhone supremacy—and it isn’t the Nexus One. Or at least not the Nexus One alone. While it seems like Google’s been searching high and low for an iPhone killer since the G1 came out in October 2008 (or since rumors started in December 2006), they’ve hit on the real way to take over the smart phone market: by the OS.

Google’s Android OS outsold the iPhone in Q1 on 2010, according to consumer surveys conducted by NPD. With dozens of devices offering various features—and more than one potential carrier—Android is a more versatile option.

While both still lag behind RIM’s Blackberry, Android was the #2 OS in sales in Q1, with 28% of the market. iPhones saw 21%. Numbers from comScore, however, show that Android does have a ways to catch up, with only 9% of the overall smartphone market. (iPhones had 25% and Microsoft was #3 [and falling], but Blackberry wins there, too, with 42% of the market.)

On the other hand, this may actually be good news for Apple, as AllThingsD points out. Apple may be facing antitrust action from the US government—but if they’re not actually dominant in this area, maybe it’s not quite the concern the DOJ thought.

What do you think? Is this better news for Google or Apple? Will Android continue to steal the iPhone’s marketshare?