A recent survey from the IDC reveals that the Android OS is the most popular in the smartphone market and that there were 4 Android based phones that were shipped in the last quarter for every iPhone that was shipped in the same period. In the same period last year, the ratio was 2.5 to 1 and it appears that the iPhone has become more of a minority though it is among the bestselling smartphones in the market even today. The major reason for the dominance of the Android OS appears to be the popularity of Samsung phones.
In the quarter between April and July of 2012, Samsung Electronics Co. and other Android device manufacturers shipped a total of 105 million smartphones which gives the open source OS from Google a market share of a whopping 68%. This is a significant increase from the 47% that it had during the last year. Android phones capitalized on the decreasing popularity of Blackberry phones and the transition of Nokia’s phones from Symbian OS to Windows Phone. With the Symbian phones beginning to lose their charm and the Windows Phone failing to catch on, Nokia customers seem to have shifted to Android, considering the fact that the price range of both varieties of phones is similar. Both Nokia and RIM’s Blackberry have dropped their respective market shares by around 5%. Meanwhile, the iPhone’s market share fell from 19% to 17%, which is only a small drop. Despite the drop the California tech giant shipped more iPhones this quarter than a year ago and while it is currently the second largest smartphone manufacturer behind Samsung, it is likely to take the top slot once the new iPhone is released, which is likely to happen this fall.
The Android OS segment is dominated by Samsung which shipped a total of 50.2 million smartphones (including those running Samsung’s Bada OS) in the quarter and its Android phones account for 44% of Android devices. By number, it sold more phones than the next seven manufacturers put together. While Apple may have been pushed behind in the smartphone market, it continues to dominate the tablet market with the iPad as it maintains a 68% market share. However, that might be at a slight risk as Google is looking to bridge the gap with the help of its own Nexus 7.
