Samsung, Android extend domination in smartphones

GOOGLE'S Android smartphone operating system (OS) continued its domination in the global smartphones market with an 81 per cent share in the third quarter of 2013. Apple's iOS operating system came in a distant second with a 12.9 per cent market share, according to results released by IDC.

Despite the high base effect, the Android OS has increased its market share from the 74.9 per cent in the year-ago quarter. In total, 211.6 million devices running on the Android OS were sold in the third quarter of this year, up 51.3 per cent from the year-ago period figure of 139.9 million, the IDC study shows.

Apple also saw an increase in device sales with an increase of 25.6 per cent year on year from 26.9 million to 33.8 million during the third quarter. In an apparent indication that Microsoft may have got its mobile device strategy in order with its latest mobile OS, Windows devices saw an impressive 156 per cent increase in sales to 9.5 million units from the 3.7 million sold last year during the quarter. Not surprisingly, BlackBerry was a big loser with its share going down 41.6 per cent to 4.5 million units from the 7.7 million it sold in the third quarter of last year.