Three out of four smartphones sold has Android





Android is by far the most popular mobile operating system, a new study by market research firm IDC found that 75.0 percent of the 181.1 million smartphones shipped in Q3 2012 run Google's mobile operating system. Apple's iOS-based iPhones account for 14.9 percent of the market and BlackBerry has the bronze medal with a marketshare of 4.3 percent. The fourth place is occupied by Symbian with 2.3 percent and Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has only a mere 2.0 percent of the market.
Compared to the same period last year, Android is one of the biggest winners as the platform saw its marketshare rise from 57.5 percent to 75.0 percent. The biggest loser is Symbian, this operating system saw its marketshare collapse from 14.6 percent to 2.3 percent, and BlackBerry's marketshare also took a big hit from 9.5 percent to 4.3 percent.
The Android smartphone operating system was found on three out of every four smartphones shipped during the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12). According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, total Android smartphone shipments worldwide reached 136.0 million units, accounting for 75.0% of the 181.1 million smartphones shipped in 3Q12. The 91.5% year-over-year growth was nearly double the overall market growth rate of 46.4%.
"Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008," said Ramon Llamas, research manager, Mobile Phones at IDC. "In every year since then, Android has effectively outpaced the market and taken market share from the competition. In addition, the combination of smartphone vendors, mobile operators, and end-users who have embraced Android has driven shipment volumes higher. Even today, more vendors are introducing their first Android-powered smartphones to market."
"The share decline of smartphone operating systems not named iOS since Android's introduction isn't a coincidence," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "The smartphone operating system isn't an isolated product, it's a crucial part of a larger technology ecosystem. Google has a thriving, multi-faceted product portfolio. Many of its competitors, with weaker tie-ins to the mobile OS, do not. This factor and others have led to loss of share for competitors with few exceptions."
Mobile Operating System Highlights
Android, having topped the 100 million unit mark last quarter, reached a new record level in a single quarter. By comparison, Android's total volumes for the quarter were greater than the total number of smartphones shipped in 2007, the year that Android was officially announced. Samsung once again led all vendors in this space, but saw its market share decline as numerous smaller vendors increased their production.
iOS was a distant second place to Android, but was the only other mobile operating system to amass double-digit market share for the quarter. The late quarter launch of the iPhone 5 and lower prices on older models prevented total shipment volumes from slipping to 3Q11 levels. 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.
BlackBerry's market share continued to sink, falling to just over 4% by the end of the quarter. With the launch of BlackBerry 10 yet to come in 2013, BlackBerry will continue to rely on its aging BlackBerry 7 platform, and equally aging device line-up. Still, demand for BlackBerry and its wildly popular BBM service is strong within multiple key markets worldwide, and the number of subscribers continues to increase.
Symbian posted the largest year-on-year decline of the leading operating systems. Nokia remains the largest vendor still supporting Symbian, along with Japanese vendors Fujitsu, Sharp, and Sony. Each of these vendors is in the midst of transitioning to other operating systems and IDC believes that they will cease shipping Symbian-powered smartphones in 2013. At the same time, the installed base of Symbian users will continue well after the last Symbian smartphone ships.
Windows Phone marked its second anniversary with a total of just 3.6 million units shipped worldwide, fewer than the total number of Symbian units shipped. Even with the backing of multiple smartphone market leaders, Windows Phone has yet to make a significant dent into Android's and iOS's collective market share. That could change in 4Q12, when multiple Windows Phone 8 smartphones will reach the market.
Linux volume declined for the third straight quarter as did its year-over-year growth. Samsung accounted for the majority of shipments once again, but like most other vendors competing with Linux-powered smartphones, most of its attention went towards Android instead. Still, that has not deterred other vendors from experimenting, or at least considering the open-source operating system, as multiple reports of Firefox, Sailfish, and Tizen plan to release new Linux-based experiences in the future.
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great news as android really continue to thrive Dora a better experience with each update. I can't express how much I'm looking forward to the 32gb nexus 7 tablet!!!

although I would like to see windows phone 8 flourish . I think it can do great things
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But I heard Android is a buggy mess that drains the battery down in 5 mins and required 600GB of ram because it's so inefficient? I thought everyone was getting Apple phones?
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Don Altobello
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*groan*
Apple sarcasm and hate is not required anymore. It's getting very old and oh so very tiresome to read on the forum.
Don Altobello
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*groan*
Apple sarcasm and hate is not required anymore. It's getting very old and oh so very tiresome to read on the forum.
But we need common enemy to keep us together...
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Android is by and large an excellent mobile OS. I'm kind of surprised that Blackberry is still kicking that strong. I can't think of more than 1 person under 50 that uses one of them...
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I thought it has been that way for a long time. Considering the number of Android devices out there, this should not be surprising for anyone.
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I think.....users....just go according...to branding........they dnt even know about "OS"....most of the.... 75% of 181.1 million....smartphone users...
Do the number:
{
75% of 181.1 million....smartphone users...
}
would have changed if all smartphones would have Nokia or iPhone OS or Guru-OS(fiction)......
.......... These numbers are just figures......
Not every one of them are techs....
The post should have been some kinda of :
WHY THERE SO MANY FREE ANDROID ANTI-VIRUS APPS ON THE SHELVEs....
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hysteric.....
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...... This is with a 1720mAh battery with security constantly running in the background:

That picture is actually deceptive because I had it on a lot more than it indicates. Since it's ~5 days compressed into that space it doesn't show quick calls, not enough room, it just shows a blank.
It took almost 5 days before it hit 0% and I plugged it in. If I didn't have the security running or if I didn't watch any videos on it, it would have lasted over 5 days. There are 4000mAh batteries available which are legitimately towards that rating range, likely 3600-3900mAh.
But like any smartphone it will drain in a matter of hours if you watch HD video on it. That still lasts longer than any iPhone.
As for it being "buggy", that sounds like something written by the Apple PR staff. I use nightly builds and I rarely ever run into any bugs or crashes. The very rare occasion which I do, it's because of Flash which iStuff don't even have.
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3/4 of the smartphone market and I cant really work out why... Sure if you want to mess around your phone and modify everything then it's a way to go but there are not that many people. Most would be better off with something else.
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How so? It doesn't get any more simple or intuitive, not to mention accessible at any price range. My mother who knows absolutely nothing about computers effortlessly uses a Galaxy Nexus.
Aside from how intuitive it is, people really like that they can just drag and drop any files on it without having to go through iTunes or any nonsense like that. If you want anything sync'd you can even do so with Google servers if you want.
So yeah... how are they better off with something else?
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...Smartphone manufacturers works according to OS......may be...
what surprises me.... is Windows Mobile OS which should have been the top of the Mobile OS today where ...
Even Windows 7 mango (could not match android).... even windows 8 still "a mystery"..
So there are many pros and little cons for Androids..... Am i right????
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...Smartphone manufacturers works according to OS......may be...
what surprises me.... is Windows Mobile OS which should have been the top of the Mobile OS today where ...
Even Windows 7 mango (could not match android).... even windows 8 still "a mystery"..
So there are many pros and little cons for Androids..... Am i right????
Part of the reason for WP7 not having more market share (at least in the US) is that sales people actively push consumers towards Android based devices, regardless of what they're actually looking for. As I stated in other threads....MY experience while attempting to buy my HTC Trophy was a battery of sales people doing everything possible to sell me an Android based phone, evening going to the extent of flat out lying to me about security, stability and usability of WP7. Most US carriers pay bonuses to their employees for sales of Android based phones. AT&T did this for the iPhone when it first launched as well. Verizon, until recently, offered no training to their employees for WP based phones.....only Android and iOS based devices. They were also (supposedly) paid bonuses for meeting sales marks for Android based devices....which I understand are ceasing with the launch of WP8.
For most smartphone users...no platform has any real advantage over the other. All 3 are fairly easy to use....all 3 support web-browsing....all 3 can make phone calls, send texts and check e-mail. Unless you require the ability to "customize" your smartphone, they're all pretty equal.
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I'm not at all surprised. Android is easy to use, customizable as hell & has no limits...