Android is the leading smartphone operating system and it has almost double the market share compared to the closest rival is a big surprise, says a recent study report.
According to a US based market research firm, Millennial Media Mobile Mix report, Android LED the smartphone OS market with a 52 per cent share, followed by 28 per cent of iOS. While BlackBerry is the third largest with 13 per cent market share, it has been losing market share to the two of the leaders.
Symbian and Microsoft Windows Phone 7 contributed 1 per cent each. The data is based on USA figures but is representative of the growth of Android and iOS across the world.
Earlier, Gartner in its May report, said that Symbian, the erstwhile market leader, was losing market share especially after Nokia changed track and adopted Windows Phone 7 as its preferred operating system. In 2010, Symbian had 44.2 per cent market share in smartphone segment, which reduced to 27.4 per cent in May this year and now if this Millennial Media is to be believed it has fallen further. However, Nokia was never very strong in USA and so it does not meant that world figures would be that low for Symbian.
In India though, Nokia’s Symbian still continues to be a major operating system, with more than 70 per cent market share in the mobile operating system space. However in smartphone space, the Nokia’s OS is losing the share much more rapidly and now represents only 35 per cent market share. In terms of handset brand, Nokia continues to be the top brand but Samsung is closing in fast with 26 per cent market share already.
Samsung is aiming 40 per cent market share in India, and is riding on the success of its Android based Galaxy series of smartphones.
This Mobile Mix report also tracked the top 20 handsets with the iPhone making up 13.06 per cent. The second place handset was the LG Optimus at 6.71 per cent, probably largely due to it being cheap and in some cases free with a new two-year contract. However, the study did combine the count for current and older generations of the same device series. For instance, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS were counted together, while the Motorola Droid and Droid 2 were lumped together as well.
The iPhone takes the lead in the top 20 handsets, 15 of those run Android, making up 33 per cent. Rounding out the top 20 are the BlackBerry Curve, Bold, Torch, and Pearl.
Additionally, the study also produced a Device OS Mix chart that now includes tablets and handheld gaming devices, MP3 players, and other connected devices. Tracking the impressions, smartphones now make up 72 per cent of the market, while feature phones and connected device each make up 14 per cent.
While in India, smartphone segment is growing but it is yet to breach the 20 per cent market share mark. Tablets especially the low cost ones from the newer brands have created new interest in the segment with price of tablets now starting from where low end smartphones start and support all the features which these smartphones support.