IDC: Android grabs 81 per cent share, Windows improves

Cellphones

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Android devices grabbed a huge 81 per cent of the smartphone market during the third quarter this year, while Windows Phone devices also gained a bigger slice of the pie, according to a report today by IDC.

The research firm said Android phones accounted for 211.6 million of the 261.1 million smartphones shipped in the quarter.

Pushing past the 80 per cent mark for the first time, and up from the 74.9 per cent share of a year ago, the Google operating system made significant strides as people sought out low-cost smartphones, said IDC.

Another stellar performer was Windows Phone, which takes the number three spot on the charts. Microsoft’s phones, boosted by Nokia branding, increased its slice of the market from 2 per cent a year ago to 3.6 per cent in the third quarter this year.

About 9.5 million Windows phones were shipped, up from 3.7 million last year. That represents a 156 per cent jump, though Microsoft is starting from a relatively small base.

To be sure, those numbers are still some way off the number two player – Apple’s iOS. The company saw its market share cut from 14.4 per cent to 12.9 per cent, despite shipping more iPhones, from 26.9 million of them last year to 33.8 million this year, a 25.6 per cent increase.

IDC expects the one-time market leader to do better in the next quarter. This is when sales numbers ratchet up with its new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

The company that should be most worried is BlackBerry. In free fall for several quarters now, its share fell again from 4.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent, despite several new models making their way to shops in recent months.

(source: IDC)