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Android Marks Fourth Anniversary Since Launch with 75.0% Market Share in Third Quarter, According to IDC
01 Nov 2012
The Android smartphone operating
system was found on three out of every four smartphones shipped during
the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12). According to the International Data
Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, total
Android smartphone shipments worldwide reached 136.0 million units,
accounting for 75.0% of the 181.1 million smartphones shipped in 3Q12.
The 91.5% year-over-year growth was nearly double the overall market
growth rate of 46.4%.
"Android has been one of the
primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in
2008," said Ramon Llamas, research manager, Mobile Phones at IDC. "In
every year since then, Android has effectively outpaced the market and
taken market share from the competition. In addition, the combination of
smartphone vendors, mobile operators, and end-users who have embraced
Android has driven shipment volumes higher. Even today, more vendors are
introducing their first Android-powered smartphones to market."
"The
share decline of smartphone operating systems not named iOS since
Android's introduction isn't a coincidence," said Kevin Restivo, senior
research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
"The smartphone operating system isn't an isolated product, it's a
crucial part of a larger technology ecosystem. Google has a thriving,
multi-faceted product portfolio. Many of its competitors, with weaker
tie-ins to the mobile OS, do not. This factor and others have led to
loss of share for competitors with few exceptions."
Mobile Operating System Highlights.
Android,
having topped the 100 million unit mark last quarter, reached a new
record level in a single quarter. By comparison, Android's total volumes
for the quarter were greater than the total number of smartphones
shipped in 2007, the year that Android was officially announced. Samsung
once again led all vendors in this space, but saw its market share
decline as numerous smaller vendors increased their production.
iOS
was a distant second place to Android, but was the only other mobile
operating system to amass double-digit market share for the quarter. The
late quarter launch of the iPhone 5 and lower prices on older models
prevented total shipment volumes from slipping to 3Q11 levels. But
without a splashy new OS-driven feature like Siri in 2011 and FaceTime
in 2010, the iPhone 5 relied on its larger, but not wider, screen and
LTE connectivity to drive growth.
BlackBerry's
market share continued to sink, falling to just over 4% by the end of
the quarter. With the launch of BlackBerry 10 yet to come in 2013,
BlackBerry will continue to rely on its aging BlackBerry 7 platform, and
equally aging device line-up. Still, demand for BlackBerry and its
wildly popular BBM service is strong within multiple key markets
worldwide, and the number of subscribers continues to increase.
Symbian
posted the largest year-on-year decline of the leading operating
systems. Nokia remains the largest vendor still supporting Symbian,
along with Japanese vendors Fujitsu, Sharp, and Sony. Each of these
vendors is in the midst of transitioning to other operating systems and
IDC believes that they will cease shipping Symbian-powered smartphones
in 2013. At the same time, the installed base of Symbian users will
continue well after the last Symbian smartphone ships.
Windows
Phone marked its second anniversary with a total of just 3.6 million
units shipped worldwide, fewer than the total number of Symbian units
shipped. Even with the backing of multiple smartphone market leaders,
Windows Phone has yet to make a significant dent into Android's and
iOS's collective market share. That could change in 4Q12, when multiple
Windows Phone 8 smartphones will reach the market.
Linux
volume declined for the third straight quarter as did its
year-over-year growth. Samsung accounted for the majority of shipments
once again, but like most other vendors competing with Linux-powered
smartphones, most of its attention went towards Android instead. Still,
that has not deterred other vendors from experimenting, or at least
considering the open-source operating system, as multiple reports of
Firefox, Sailfish, and Tizen plan to release new Linux-based experiences
in the future.
