There is no doubt that Android has become the dominant smartphone presence across the world over the last few years, as it takes advantage of Apple’s staggered release schedule to flood the market with devices.
But the sheer scale of Google’s OS can truly be seen in new figures released today by OpenSignal, which reveals that there are at least a staggering 18,786 different Android devices currently in use around the world.
This is up from 11,868 devices last year – a 63% increase and proof that Android is grabbing the mobile market by the horns – according to recent figures from research firm IDC, Android had almost 85% of the worldwide mobile market in the second quarter of 2014.
Unsurprisingly, Samsung is the dominant Android force, taking 43% of the market, including 12 of the 13 most popular devices on the market – although this is down from its 47.5% share in 2013.
The South Korean manufacturer is streets ahead of its competitors, too, as the second most popular Android manufacturer is Sony, which has just 4.8% of the market share.
Software fragmentation is also another major factor, as the survey shows that only 20.6% of Android devices are running the latest version, KitKat. Only certain devices can run the software, however, including many of the latest devices, meaning that this figure should increase as time passes and users update their devices.
It’s clear that Android has profited not just from the lack of new Apple devices, but also the decline of BlackBerry and the struggle of Windows Phone to become an established market presence. Will this change with the expected launch of Apple’s iPhone 6 later this year? Only time will tell, but it will surely take something spectacular to topple Android from top spot.
