REPORT: Android Now Controls 80% of the Mobile Smartphone Market

android versus appleAndroid continues to dominate the smartphone market, and, according to the latest data from the International Data Corporation, it now holds 79.3% of the global smartphone market! This is up from almost 70% just one year ago. Meanwhile, Apple’s marketshare dipped from 16.6% a year ago to 13.2%. In terms of unit growth, both Android and Apple continue to gain with Apple up 20% over the year, while Android unit growth was up a staggering 73.5%.

To put this in perspective, let’s look at Google Search. Google Search is considered the de facto standard for online searching by most, yet the engine only represents 67% of the search market. Android is even more dominant in the smartphone market!

Top Smartphone Operating Systems

smartphone market

Other smartphone operating systems with significant market shares are Windows Phone and the Blackberry OS, both representing about 3% of the current marketplace.

Overall, vendors shipped 236.4 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2013, which is up 51% from the same period last year. Though it appears the smartphone market is exploding, only the Android seems to be going along for the ride. What’s happening to iOS?

One cause to Apple’s dip in market share may be that company hasn’t recently released a new device. According to Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC’s mobile Phone team,
“The iOS decline in the second quarter aligns with the cyclicality of iPhone. Without a new product launch since the debut of the iPhone 5 nearly a year ago, Apple’s market share was vulnerable to product launches from the competition. But with a new iPhone and revamped iOS coming out later this year, Apple is well-positioned to re-capture market share.”

Do you think Apple can make a rebound with a new iPhone later this year? Or do they need better pricing to compete with cheaper Android devices?

Daniel Zeevi

By Daniel Zeevi

Daniel is a social network architect, web developer, infographic designer, writer, speaker and founder of DashBurst. Full-time futurist and part-time content curator, always on the hunt for disruptive new technology, creative art and web humor.

2 comments

  1. Your title and story is very misleading….Android does NOT control 80% of the global smartphone market, they made up 80% of global smartphone shipments in Q2 2013, which is very different.

  2. Would be curious to hear any insights you have about what kind of ground apple has to make up for in their new iOs release this sept. The rumored fingerprint scanner seems like it may break some ground!

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