Android, iOS Account for 92% of Smartphone Market

A new report from Strategy Analytics says that 92 percent of the smartphones shipped worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2012 ran either Android or iOS. Android alone captured 70 percent of the market.

PCMag’s Angela Moscaritolo reported, “Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS mobile platforms together accounted for a record 92 percent share of all smartphones shipped worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to new data from Strategy Analytics. Android, the undisputed leader of the industry, captured an impressive 70 percent share of the global smartphone market in Q4 2012, up from 51 percent a year earlier, the research firm said. Apple’s iOS took 22 percent during the period, and all other smartphone platforms combined accounted for the remaining 7.9 percent.”

AppleInsider quoted Scott Bicheno, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, who said, “The worldwide smartphone industry has effectively become a duopoly as consumer demand has polarized around mass-market Android models and premium Apple designs.”

Nathan Eddy from eWeek added, “In the global smartphone market, shipments grew 38 percent annually to 217.0 million in Q4 2012 from 157.0 million units in Q4 2011. Global smartphone shipments for the full year reached a record 700.1 million units in 2012, increasing from 490.5 million units in 2011.”

A separate report indicates that Amazon is dominating the Android tablet market. Ars Technica’s Casey Johnston noted, “According to Localytics, the Kindle Fire has a 33 percent global share of the Android tablet market. The Kindle Fire is tailed by the Nook (Tablet) at 10 percent, the Samsung Galaxy series at nine percent, and the Nexus 7 at eight percent.”