Nearly 85% of the smartphones shipped in the second quarter (Q2) of 2012 were powered by Android and iOS platforms, reporting a joint rise for the mobile operating systems developed by Google and Apple, according to a new report from International Data Corporation (IDC).
As per the report, Android had 68.1% market share of all smartphones shipped during the quarter, over 16.9% acquired by iOS, while operating systems from BlackBerry and Symbian accumulated 4.8% and 4.4% marketshare respectively.
Android based smartphone shipment increased 106.5% from 50.8 million units in Q2 2011 to 104.6 million units during second quarter of 2012.
Android’s success could be credited to Samsung, which accounted for 44.0% of all Android smartphones shipped in 2Q12 and its shipment was more than the total volume of Android shipment shipped by next seven Android vendors.
IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends programme senior research analyst Ramon Llamas said Android continues to fire on all cylinders.
"The market was entreated to several flagship models from Android’s handset partners, prices were well within reach to meet multiple budgetary needs, and the user experience from both Google and its handset partners boosted Android smartphones’ utility far beyond simple telephony," Llamas said.
During the last quarter Windows Phone 7 minimised the gap between with BlackBerry eying the third spot in the mobile operating system market.
Windows Phone 7 market share increased from 2.3% in Q2 of 2011 to 3.5% in this quarter, mainly due to Nokia, which almost doubled its Lumia/Windows Phone shipments sequentially.
The report revealed that, though it is closing in on to the third spot, Windows Phone is still a distant competitor to Android and iOS.
With the Windows Phone 8 devices due to be introduced this fall, Microsoft need to generate additional momentum if the company has to compete with the three other mobile OS leaders, the analysts claimed.
IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker senior research analyst Kevin Restivo said the mobile OS market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS.
"With much of the world’s mobile phone user base still operating feature phones, the smartphone OS market share battle is far from over," Restivo said.
"There is still room for some mobile OS competitors to gain share, although such efforts will become increasingly difficult as smartphone penetration increases."
Symbian based smartphone shipment dropped 62% from 18.3 million in Q2 of 2011 to 6.8 million in the second quarter this year, recording sharpest decline among the leading OS vendors.
According to the IDC analysts, the decline was triggered by Nokia’s decision to make Windows Phone its primary smartphone OS, after the company registered lower sales in key economically developing geographies such as China as well as Central & EasternEurope and the Middle East and Africa.
