The dominance of Android and iOS phones continues as both operating systems in combination make up 96.4% of total market share in terms of smartphone shipments in the second quarter of this year. These figures are provided by International Data Cooperation (IDC), a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services. According to IDC, other operating systems including Microsoft's Windows Phone and Tizen have yet to surpass the 5% mark in terms of their market share.
IDC said that the 2nd quarter of this year saw a bigger growth in the number of smartphones shipped worldwide, recording an increase of 25.3% from the second quarter of last year to reach 301.3 million units, attributable mainly to sales of Android smartphones. Android smartphones saw a 33.3% increase in their shipments compared to iOS smartphones which recorded a 12.7% growth, on a year-on-year basis. As a result, Android market share shot up to from 79.6% in the second quarter of 2013 to 84.7% in the second quarter of 2014 while iOS's share declined from 12.7% in the second quarter of 2013 to 11.7% to the second quarter of 2014. Windows Phone and Blackberry made up 2.5% and 0.5% of the market share respectively.
IDC said that Samsung is still the leader in the Android segment, but its overall share fell from 40% recorded two years ago to 29.3% last quarter, mainly due to the intense competition from other OEM brands such as Coolpad, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Xiaomi, and ZTE. For Windows Phone, the major smartphone brands include new entrants BLU, Micromax, Prestigio and Yezz and incumbents Foxconn, Gionee, JSR, Karbonn, Lava, Lenovo, LG, Longcheer, and ZTE. More details on the global smartphone shipments and the performance of key players in this space is available from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
“With many of its OEM partners focusing on the sub-$200 segments, Android has been reaping huge gains within emerging markets. During the second quarter, 58.6% of all Android smartphone shipments worldwide cost less than $200 off contract, making them very attractive compared to other devices. With the recent introduction of Android One, in which Google offers reference designs below $100 to Android OEMs, the proportion of sub-$200 volumes will climb even higher."
- Ramon Llamas, Research Manager - Mobile Phone Team, IDC
"It's been an incredible upward slog for other OS players – Windows Phone has been around since 2010 but has yet to break the 5% share mark, while the backing of the world's largest smartphone player, Samsung, has not boosted Tizen into the spotlight. The biggest stumbling block is around getting enough partnerships in play – not just phone manufacturers but also developers, many of which are smaller outfits looking to minimize development efforts by sticking to the two big ecosystems."
- Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager,IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker
