A recent report by research firm Strategy Analytics revealed Android and iOS smartphones accounted for 92 percent of fourth quarter worldwide shipments.
Android might be a front runner too in the smartphone market, but at least for the moment, Apple’s iOS remains the predominant force, holding 70.1 percent of the smartphone market.
Whereas Apple remains the main force in the smartphone market, last year’s quarter shows there’s more and more interest with consumers for Android devices. Strategy Analytics’ report reads that there were 152 million Android devices sold in the fourth quarter, while Apple sold only 47.8 million iPhones. It’s a staggering gap and it shows consumers are looking for cost-effective devices that offer quality tech and not necessary brand pride.
“Apple grew 29 percent annually and shipped 47.8 million smartphones worldwide for 22 percent marketshare in Q4 2013, dipping slightly from 24 percent a year earlier” explains Scott Bicheno, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics. But Google’s Android is according to Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, the “undisputed volume leader” with a share of the global market that has surged to such an extent it has crushed “Symbian, Bada and other platforms in its wake”.
“The worldwide smartphone industry has effectively become a duopoly as consumer demand has polarized around mass-market Android models and premium Apple designs” Scott Bicheno has concluded. However for Android to keep growing at such an intense pace, the challenge is to make sure it crushes rising rivals early ahead.
For 2012 the volume of smartphone shipments has reached 700.1 million units, up almost by half compared to 2011, when the figure was at 490.5 million units.
