79 percent of smartphones shipped in Q2 of 2013 were Android: IDC

The latest numbers from IDC confirms the dominance of Android in terms of market share for smartphone operating systems while Apple’s growth is shrinking. The report shows that nearly 79.3 percent of smartphones shipped in Q2 of 2013 were Android devices. In terms of shipment units over 187.4 million Android units were shipped. In Q2 of 2012 over 102 million Android units were shipped, which gave them a market share of 69.1 percent. As far as Android is concerned, the report states that Samsung and its Galaxy S4 range helped boost the market share but LG and Chinese vendors Huawei, Lenovo, and ZTE and other vendors cannot be overlooked as they accounted for 60.5 percent of all Android-powered smartphone shipments. Samsung shipped 73.3 million Android phones which represent 39.1 percent of Android phones shipped. LG was number two on the list of Android vendors with 12.1 million smartphones shipped. [caption id=“attachment_1021331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Androids still on top. AP[/caption] Apple is number two on the list with 31.2 million iPhones shipped, which represent a 13.2 percent market share for Apple. While Apple’s shipment numbers have increased for Q2, its market share has shrunk from 2012. In Q2 2012 it had shipped 26 million smartphones and had a market share of 16.6 percent. Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team, said “without a new product launch since the debut of the iPhone 5 nearly a year ago, Apple’s market share was vulnerable to product launches from the competition. But with a new iPhone and revamped iOS coming out later this year, Apple is well-positioned to re-capture market share.” Apple’s shipment numbers could go up in the next quarter when the next iPhone comes out with iOS 7. Apple is also likely to launch a cheaper iPhone with a plastic casing which could give a serious boost to its numbers. At number three in the operating systems’ list is Windows Phone, which has finally surpassed BlackBerry. “Last quarter we witnessed Windows Phone shipments surpassing BlackBerry and the trend has continued into the second quarter,” said Ryan Reith, Program Manager with IDC’s Mobility Tracker Programs noting that Nokia has clearly been the driving force behind the Windows Phone platform. IDC expects the growth to continue with Windows 8 and Nokia devices. Nokia accounted for 81.6% of all Windows Phone smartphone shipments during Q2 of 2013 adds the report. 8.7 Windows Phones were shipped which is a market share of 3.7 percent. According to the report Windows Phone posted the largest year-over-year increase among the top five smartphone platforms.

For BlackBerry the market share declined. 6.8 million BlackBerry devices were shipped and its market share was 2.9 percent which is down from 4.9 percent in Q2 last year. The report notes that BlackBerry has shown steady progress since the launch of its BB 10 platform, and has seen a greater presence within its total volumes. Linux was number six on the list and the report notes that despite few vendors supporting the open source platform and virtually no global presence, it did manage to get a single percentage point of market share. For now, the Android juggernaut continues with virtually no serious competitor in sight.