Android and iOS Dominate Smartphone Shipments, Grab 92 Percent Share
Android and iOS aren't exactly best buds in the mobile world, though collectively the two platforms dominate the smartphone market in a big way. According to the latest data compiled by Strategy Analytics, Google's green machine and Apple's proprietary platform accounted for a record 92 percent of all smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012.
What makes that figure even more significant is that smartphone shipments are on the rise, having grown 38 percent to reach 217 million units in Q4.
"Global smartphone shipments grew 38 percent annually from 157.0 million units in Q4 2011 to 217.0 million in Q4 2012. Global smartphone shipments for the full year reached a record 700.1 million units in 2012, increasing robustly from 490.5 million units in 2011," said Neil Shah, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics. "Global shipment growth slowed from 64 percent in 2011 to 43 percent in 2012 as penetration of smartphones began to mature in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe."
By the numbers, Android is the big winner and appears almost untouchable at this point. There were roughly 152.1 million Android smartphones shipped in Q4, nearly doubling from 80.6 million a year prior. Over the past year, Android's share of the smartphone market has grown from 51 percent to 70 percent.
Apple, meanwhile, shipped 29 percent more iPhones in 2012 than it did in 2011, but its share of the smartphone market dipped slightly from 24 percent in 2011 to 22 percent in 2012.
What makes that figure even more significant is that smartphone shipments are on the rise, having grown 38 percent to reach 217 million units in Q4.
"Global smartphone shipments grew 38 percent annually from 157.0 million units in Q4 2011 to 217.0 million in Q4 2012. Global smartphone shipments for the full year reached a record 700.1 million units in 2012, increasing robustly from 490.5 million units in 2011," said Neil Shah, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics. "Global shipment growth slowed from 64 percent in 2011 to 43 percent in 2012 as penetration of smartphones began to mature in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe."
By the numbers, Android is the big winner and appears almost untouchable at this point. There were roughly 152.1 million Android smartphones shipped in Q4, nearly doubling from 80.6 million a year prior. Over the past year, Android's share of the smartphone market has grown from 51 percent to 70 percent.
Apple, meanwhile, shipped 29 percent more iPhones in 2012 than it did in 2011, but its share of the smartphone market dipped slightly from 24 percent in 2011 to 22 percent in 2012.
