If you think your smartphone is a statement of your unique individuality, you’d best hope it isn’t running Android or iOS. Some 85% of smartphones now either rock Google or Apple’s mobile operating systems.
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According to tech analysis company IDC, this is a record new combined high for the two companies.
Unsurprisingly their dominance comes at the cost of two pioneers in the smartphone world: Symbian and BlackBerry. Each now accounts for less five percent of the global market.
“Android continues to fire on all cylinders,” said Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends program. “The market was entreated to several flagship models from Android’s handset partners, prices were well within reach to meet multiple budgetary needs, and the user experience from both Google and its handset partners boosted Android smartphones’ utility far beyond simple telephony.”
As we’ve previously noted, the manufacturer responsible for Android’s dominance of the smartphone is Samsung. According to IDC, the South Korean giant sold 44% of all Android smartphones in the second quarter of 2011, more or less as many as it died in the first quarter.
Apple meanwhile saw double-digit growth in the quarter, but even drastically reduced prices on some its older model iPhones couldn’t get it above 16.9% of market share. Rumours that the iPhone 5 will is coming in September won’t have helped sales figures either. People are most likely waiting to see whether the new device is worthwhile and if the new launch will substantially knock down the cost of the 4S.
“The mobile OS market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “With much of the world’s mobile phone user base still operating feature phones, the smartphone OS market share battle is far from over. There is still room for some mobile OS competitors to gain share, although such efforts will become increasingly difficult as smartphone penetration increases.”
One of these up-and-comers is Windows Phone. According to IDC “the share gains it made last quarter are due mostly to Nokia, which almost doubled its Lumia/Windows Phone shipments sequentially”.
So hipsters, we’ve said it before, get your hands on a Windows Phone device before it becomes cool.
