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Android continues to be the dominant platform as far as all smart mobile devices are concerned inquarter one (Q1) of 2013, according to research firm Canalys. The firm has defined smart mobile devices as notebooks, tablets and smartphones for the purpose of its research.
As far as operating systems were concerned, Android dominates with as many as 59.5 percent of all smart mobile devices shipped running Google’s open source operating system. Apple was in the number two spot, with the Canalys report noting that Apple’s strength in the smartphone and tablet PC markets helped it grab a 19.3 percent share. Microsoft is at number three with 18.1 percent share, which the report said reflects its relative strength in the PC market but said its status in the smartphone arena is still struggling.
Total smart mobile device shipments for the Q1 hit 308.7 million units, which represents year-on-year growth of 37.4 percent adds the report.
[caption id=“attachment_779815” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Android Army continues to rise. Reuters[/caption]
The report also notes that the the tablet market continues to grow the fastest with worldwide tablet shipments reaching 41.9 million units which represents a 106.1 percent year-on-year growth. ‘Spearheaded by Google and Amazon, the commoditization of the tablet market has happened far quicker than that of the wider PC market,’ said Canalys Senior Analyst, Tim Coulling. ‘Profit margins are being squeezed and vendors without a low cost structure will find it hard to compete.’
Apple continues to lead in the tablet space with 46.4 percent share, its market share is falling, the report notes.
In smartphones Android remains dominant with 75.6 percent market share and in Android Samsung was the dominating company once again, with its volume growing by 64.3 percent year-on-year. Samsung has 32 percent market share according to the report.
In contrast, Apple saw modest annual growth, only 6.7 percent in its smartphone shipments - the lowest level since the launch of the original iPhone back in 2007.
‘Despite its slowing growth, Apple still shipped over 37 million iPhones,’ said Pete Cunningham, Canalys Principal Analyst. ‘But HTC and Samsung have raised the bar with their latest handsets and Apple needs to respond with its next iPhone."
Huawei, LG and ZTE completed the top five smart phone vendors, all with less than 5% market share each.
As far as Notebook PC shipments were concerned they continued to contract. Shipments totaled 50.5 million units, down, 13.1 percent compared with the same period in 2012. The biggest decline was in Western Europe, where shipments fell by 25.2 percent on an annual basis.
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