Gartner: Android market share tops 50% worldwide
- 16 November, 2011 04:23
- Comments
Android's well-documented fragmentation issues apparently aren't deterring consumers from snatching up Android phones.
More news: Gartner: 16 long-held IT business practices you need to kill
According to new research from Gartner, Android-based devices accounted for a whopping 52.5% of all smartphones sold worldwide in the third quarter of 2011. In all, consumers bought around 60.5 million Android smartphones in the third quarter of 2011, or roughly triple the 20.5 million Android smartphones purchased in the third quarter of 2010.
Smartphones based on Nokia's now-defunct Symbian operating system still accounted for a decent share of smartphone sales as the 19.5 million Symbian devices sold in the third quarter of 2011 represented 16.9% of the overall smartphone market. However this also represented a major decline in market share for an operating system whose devices accounted for 36.3% of smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2010.
Apple and Research in Motion saw their share of the overall smartphone market decline year-over-year in the third quarter. Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza said that the Apple's market share decline was likely a temporary blip as iPhone purchases slowed while consumers waited for the new iPhone 4S to be released. RIM's decline is more problematic, however, as Cozza noted that "its smartphone share reached its lowest point so far in the U.S. market, where it dropped to 10%."
Devices based on iOS accounted for 15% of the third quarter of 2011 smartphone sales, down from a 16.6% market share in the third quarter of 2010, while devices based on the BlackBerry OS accounted for 11% of the third quarter of 2011 smartphone sales, down from 15.4% in the third quarter of 2010.
Gartner's findings mark the first time that Android has accounted for more than 50% of smartphones sold in the world. Research released last quarter by Canalys showed that Android-based phones accounted for 48% of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter, as the 51.9 million Android phones shipped in the second quarter of 2011 represented a nearly fivefold increase from the number of Android phones shipped in the second quarter of 2010.
Ever since its debut in the fall of 2007, Android has appeared on numerous popular smartphones for several carriers including Verizon's Motorola Droid and Sprint's HTC Evo 4G. Google last month released Android 4.0 (a.k.a., "Ice Cream Sandwich", the first version of its mobile operating system that aims to deliver the same user experience to the multiple types of Android devices, whether it's a smaller-screen phone like the Droid Pro, a large-screen phone like the Droid X or a tablet like the Motorola Xoom.
Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.
Recommended
Join the Computerworld Australia group on Linkedin. The group is open to IT Directors, IT Managers, Infrastructure Managers, Network Managers, Security Managers, Communications Managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
- Follow Computerworld on twitter
- 8 useful Google Android resources
- Google's Andy Rubin tells Android critics to chill
- Layer 8: Gartner: Big challenges lurk in building enterprise wireless networks
- Gartner: 16 long-held IT business practices you need to kill
- Android 4.0: A rundown of key features
- A brief history of smartphones
- So you think you know Apple?
- The iPhone Quiz
- First Look: Apple iPhone 4S
- Anti-malware Research Center - Network World
- Advanced Persistent Threats and Real-Time Threat Management
- Endpoint Protection Overview
- Leading Through Connections – Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study
- Virtualisation and Cloud Computing: Optimised Power, Cooling and Management Maximises Benefits
- 2013 Global Information Security Survey: Initial findings
-
Google adds more retailers for Chromebook
-
Mobile app data protection not our responsibility, say Australians
-
Opposition calls for inquiry on 457 visas
-
Mobile app data protection not our responsibility, say Australians
-
A year on, Assange still a divisive issue
