WASHINGTON: Smartphones powered by the Android operating system captured 85 percent of the worldwide market in the second quarter, threatening to marginalise rival platforms, a new survey shows.
Strategy Analytics said overall smartphone shipments were up 27 percent from a year ago to 295 million, with most of the growth in devices using Android, the free mobile system from Google.
Apple’s iPhone managed to increase sales to 35 million in the quarter, the survey showed, but Apple’s global market share fell to 11.9 percent from 13.4 percent a year ago, said the report.
“Android is on the verge of turning smartphone platforms into a one-horse race,” said Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston.
“Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain wildly attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. Rival OS vendors are going to have to do something revolutionary to overturn Android’s huge lead in smartphone shipments.”
Mawston said the only significant threats to Android are the large-screen iPhones expected to come from Apple later this year and the ultra-low cost Firefox phones. Global smartphone growth in the past quarter is at its lowest level for five years, according to the survey.
AFP
