80% of new phones ship with Android or iOS [Report]

We’ve written about how large Android and iOS’ combined slice of the smartphone market is before. It doesn’t look like that situation’s about to change any time soon.

Even in a shrinking mobile phone market, the two operating systems have managed to carve out a considerable lead for themselves.

In fact, new research from tech analysis company IDC suggests that over 80% of smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2011 rocked one of the two OS’.

The company’s figures give Android slightly larger share of the market than a similar study recently conducted by fellow research company Gartner.

IDC reckons that around 59% of smartphones carry Android, while Gartner gives it 56% of the market. Both companies give iOS a 23% stake in the market.

“The popularity of Android and iOS stems from a combination of factors that the competition has struggled to keep up with,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends programme. “Neither Android nor iOS were the first to market with some of these features, but the way they made the smartphone experience intuitive and seamless has quickly earned a massive following.”

Another thing common to both studies is the decline of BlackBerry and Symbian, which Nokia appears to be reluctant to abandon completely – as evidenced by its appearance on the 808 Pureview.

Both also suggest that Windows Phone is on the decline, despite Nokia’s efforts at pushing it on the Lumia range of smartphones.

The research company doesn’t think competitive OS’ will have an easy task of catching up to Android and iOS.

“In order for operating system challengers to gain share, their creators and hardware partners need to secure developer loyalty,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker programme. “This is true because developer intentions or enthusiasm for a particular operating system is typically a leading indicator of hardware sales success.”