SHARE

IDC: Android Claims 75% of Smartphone Shipments

Four years after Google first released its Android mobile operating system (OS), it has become the undisputed king of smartphone OSes, according to IDC. The market research firm says that Android made up three quarters — a full 75 percent — of the smartphone market in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12). According to IDC’s […]

Written By: Pedro Hernandez

Nov 2, 2012

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Four years after Google first released its Android mobile operating system (OS), it has become the undisputed king of smartphone OSes, according to IDC.

The market research firm says that Android made up three quarters — a full 75 percent — of the smartphone market in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12). According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 136 million Android units were shipped during 3Q12. In total, 181.1 million smartphones were shipped during the same period.

And the rate of Android adoption is handily outpacing that of the smartphone market as a whole. “The 91.5 percent year-over-year growth was nearly double the overall market growth rate of 46.4 percent,” says IDC.

So far this year, Android smartphone shipments have reached 333.6 million units, a figure that already eclipses last year’s total of 243.4 million units.

The data follows another recent report from IDC that describes a smartphone market that’s on a lofty trajectory.

Last week, the group revealed that smartphone shipments rose 45.2 percent in 3Q12, year-over-year. Samsung, whose mobile device lineup leans heavily on the Android OS, made the biggest gains in this booming market. Samsung currently claims 31 percent market share (56.3 million units shipped). By comparison, Apple has 15 percent share of the smartphone market.

“Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008. In every year since then, Android has effectively outpaced the market and taken market share from the competition,” said Ramon Llamas, Mobile Phones research manager at IDC in a statement.

Signs also point to Android as a major driver of behind the consumerization of IT phenomenon, and by extension, the BYOD (bring your own device) trend that’s gripping the IT industry. “In addition, the combination of smartphone vendors, mobile operators, and end-users who have embraced Android has driven shipment volumes higher,” adds Llamas.

What about Android’s arch-rival, Apple’s iOS?

IDC says that while Apple is solidly (and distantly) in second place, the company has made moves to keep the iPhone momentum going. “The late quarter launch of the iPhone 5 and lower prices on older models prevented total shipment volumes from slipping to 3Q11 levels,” states IDC.

Moreover, Apple has managed to make gains without a standout signature feature in iOS 6. “But without a splashy new OS-driven feature like Siri in 2011 and FaceTime in 2010, the iPhone 5 relied on its larger, but not wider, screen and LTE connectivity to drive growth,” says the research group.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality

FEATURE | By James Maguire,
December 16, 2020
AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
December 11, 2020
Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
Top 10 AIOps Companies

FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
What is Text Analysis?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
Top 10 Chatbot Platforms

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
Finding a Career Path in AI

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science

FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021

FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI

FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality

FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020

SEE ALL
ARTICLES

Pedro Hernandez

Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to Datamation, eWEEK, and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.

IDC: Android Claims 75% of Smartphone Shipments

Pedro Hernandez

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories

IDC: Android Claims 75% of Smartphone Shipments

RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Pedro Hernandez

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories