FollowGoogle’s Android operating system and Apple’s iOS can account for more than 9/10 of the world market for smartphones in a recent study done by Strategy Analytics. These numbers apply to the fourth and most recent quarter of 2012, and most analysts were amazing by the domination of these two operating systems over the rest of the competition.
Google’s Android OS had a staggering 70% of the market share, and Apple’s iOS had 22%. All other operating systems had the remaining 8% of the market. The very large lead that Android has built is due to their mass market strategy that applied the Android program to a wide variety of smartphones available to the general consumer base. Apple has built its iOS off of premium design and has made a niche in the wealthy or professional consumer base, and these customers continue to get each new model of the iPhone.
In total numbers, the Android OS is a clear winner as far as smartphones are concerned. Android is installed on 152.1 million smartphones that shipped last quarter, up from 80.6 million in the same quarter of 2011. Apple also grew, although not as much. They shipped 29% more phones this year, compared to last years 47.8 million units.
These numbers prove that Android has become the biggest competitor in the smartphone OS market, and Apple is hard pressed to hold onto the customers they already have. 700 million smartphones were shipped last year, and 500 million of them had a version of Android installed.
In the coming year, some things may change regarding smartphone operating systems. New systems are coming out, such as Tizen, BB10 and Microsoft 8 pro. These new operating systems will have to find a way to overcome the behemoth that Android has become.
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