Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/08/15/new_mobe_market_data_finds_android_android_ber_alles/

Google's ANDROID CRUSHING smartphone rivals underfoot

Windows Phone cracks, Blackberry's out of juice and even Apple's squeezed

By Simon Sharwood

Posted in Personal Tech, 15th August 2014 01:26 GMT

Google's Android mobile OS now runs on 84.7 per cent of the 301 million mobile phones the world created in the second quarter of 2014, according to market-watcher IDC.

The Google spawn's market share is up a third compared to the same quarter in 2013. Every other mobile operating system is not even eating Android's dust – they're so far back on the road they can see the plume of dust Android throws up are falling behind and don't even look to have a chance of choking.

We offer that analysis because, as the chart below shows, Android's nearest rival – Apple's iOS – now has just 11.7 per cent market share.

Top Five Smartphone Operating Systems, Worldwide Shipments, and Market Share, 2014Q2 (Units in Millions)

Operating System

2Q14 Shipment Volume

2Q14 Market Share

2Q13 Shipment Volume

2Q13 Market Share

2Q14/2Q13 Growth

Android

255.3

84.7%

191.5

79.6%

33.3%

iOS

35.2

11.7%

31.2

13.0%

12.7%

Windows Phone

7.4

2.5%

8.2

3.4%

-9.4%

BlackBerry

1.5

0.5%

6.7

2.8%

-78.0%

Others

1.9

0.6%

2.9

1.2%

-32.2%

Total

301.3

100%

240.5

100%

25.3%

 

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, August 14, 2014

Note: Figures may not be exact due to rounding

IDC says Android's winning because mobe-makers are using it to crack the sub-US$200 market. With Android One on the way and sub-$100 devices the target, the analyst says there's every chance Android will capture even more market share.

The data is also notable for reporting the first 300-million-phones-shipped quarter.

The new isn't all bad for the chasing pack as IDC says Q2 is Apple's annual low point thanks to punters either having bought an iPhone 5s already or being willing to wait for a new model. And despite Windows Phone's declining market share, the analyst thinks there's a chance for improvement once Microsoft's channels get Lumias into developing countries at attractive prices.

BlackBerry may not be entirely dead yet, as it is improving its position in the Asian markets it has targeted and recorded “some gains among enterprise users within North America and Western Europe.” ®