From humble beginnings in 2008 with the T-Mobile G1, Android has quickly established itself as the most popular mobile operating system in the world. It accounted for 80% of all smartphones shipped in Q2 2013. Many wondered whether Android could go much further. A year later, the latest Strategy Analytics numbers show Android continuing to grow. For Q2 2014, Android accounted for 84.6% of the 295 million smartphones shipped over the quarter.
Strategy Analytics found that Android stole market share from BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone. In other words, no competitor was immune. It could get worse: Strategy Analytics warns that “smartphone platforms are at risk of becoming a one-horse race.”
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. Apple’s push into the big-screen phablet market and Firefox’s expansion into the ultra-low-cost smartphone market later this year are the only major threats to Android’s continued growth at this stage.
Apple’s iOS remains in second place but saw its market share drop from 13.4% to 11.9% over the last year. Microsoft’s Windows Phone and BlackBery hold down third and fourth with market shares of 2.7% and 0.6% respectively.
| Global Smartphone OS Shipments (Millions of Units) | Q2 '13 | Q2 '14 |
| Android | 186.8 | 249.6 |
| Apple iOS | 31.2 | 35.2 |
| Microsoft | 8.9 | 8 |
| Blackberry | 5.7 | 1.9 |
| Others | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Total | 233 | 295.2 |
| Global Smartphone OS Marketshare % | Q2 '13 | Q2 '14 |
| Android | 80.2% | 84.6% |
| Apple iOS | 13.4% | 11.9% |
| Microsoft | 3.8% | 2.7% |
| Blackberry | 2.4% | 0.6% |
| Others | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
| Total Growth Year-over-Year % | 48.9 | 26.7 |
Strategy Analytics has a slightly different top five when it comes to the five largest smartphone manufacturers in Q2 2014. While shipment numbers are nearly the same, Strategy Analytics lists Samsung in first followed by Apple, Huawei and Lenovo in fourth. So far, nothing different but in fifth they have China’s Xiaomi instead of LG which holds down sixth on their list.
Strategy Analytics also describes Xiaomi as “the star performer in the quarter.” Its rise to fifth spot is attributed to its “wildly popular” Android smartphones in its home country. To grow further though, it will neeed to “target the international market in Asia and Europe, where it will have to invest big money to familiarize western consumers with its unfamiliar brand name.”
Sources : Strategy Analytics (1) // Strategy Analytics (2)