Samsung is slipping, but Android just set a new record for phone shipments in Q2

Samsung may not be having the best of times as far as **sales and revenue** from **its smartphone business are concerned** , but Android continues sweeping the market at an unprecedented scale.   According to the latest report from research firm Strategy Analytics, smartphone shipments reached 295 million units this quarter, the second of 2014, with Android netting a record share of nearly 85 percent. Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments grew 27 percent annually from 233.0 million units in Q2 2013 to 295.2 million in Q2 2014. We estimate worldwide smartphone growth has halved during the past year, from 49 percent a year ago to 27 percent today. "   Ominously though, smartphone growth has slowed down in the most recent quarter and is at a five year low. However, the global market is showing a polarity in terms of growth. Africa and Asia are booming, while North America and Europe are maturing, but the rate at which the former is happening has not yet outpaced the maturation.   Android grew at the expense of every major rival, which is ominous if you are a Windows Phone, iOS or BlackBerry well-wisher. BB 10 saw share tumble from 2 to 1 percent while iOS lost one point too to have 11.9 percent of the market. Windows Phone continued to struggle in US and China, resulting in a market share of just 2.7 percent during Q2 2014.   What’s worrisome is that Strategy Analytics believes Android is on the verge of turning smartphone platforms like the PC market i.e. into a one-horse race. “Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain wildly attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. Rival OS vendors are going to have to do something revolutionary to overturn Android’s huge lead in smartphone shipments. Apple’s push into the big-screen phablet market and Firefox’s expansion into the ultra-low-cost smartphone market later this year are the only major threats to Android’s continued growth at this stage,” the report mentioned.   But the rise has come at a cost. Google is facing the threat of having the biggest vehicle for its services held back by regulation. The EU is mulling a big probe into **whether Android is being used to promote Google's own services for search and maps** , which are pre-loaded apps on most Android devices. In Europe, Microsoft is forced to add an option for users to download browsers other than Internet Explorer at the time of installation, so there is precedence for action against Google. That still might not be enough to stop Android’s march, as it never did slow down Windows, but adoption of services could be impacted. After all, who uses IE anymore?