iPhone And Android Took 92% Of Global Smartphone Shipments In Q4 2012

(11:06 am PDT, Jan 28th)

iPhone-4S-with-Galaxy-S-III

When it comes to buying a smartphone right now, there are pretty much only two choices – Android or iPhone. Yeah, you could go buy a Windows Phone or a BlackBerry if you really want to, but no one else is.

Both the iPhone and Android ecosystems are growing so fast that competitors can’t catch up. According to the latest figures from Strategy Analytics, 92% of all global smartphone shipments in Q4 of 2012 where either an iPhone or Android.

Thanks to estimates of 152.1 million Android phones being shipped globally in Q4 2012, Android nearly doubled the amount shipped in quarter a year ago. As a result, Android’s global smartphone share increased from 51% in 2011, to 70% in 2012.

Even though iOS increased the number of units it shipped in Q4 2012 compared to a year ago, 47.8 million verses 37 million, iOS’ marketshare declined slightly from 23.6% in 2011 to 22% in 2012.

Android is obviously winning the smartphone wars in terms of shipping volume. Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, said that now that Android’s got the lead, it’s challenge will be to keep it.

”Android’s share of the global smartphone market has surged… crushing Symbian, Bada and other platforms in its wake. Android’s challenge for 2013 will be to defend its leadership, not only against Apple, but also against an emerging wave of hungry challengers that includes Microsoft, Blackberry, Firefox and Tizen.”

By commanding 70% of global smartphone shipments, we have a hard time believing anyone will be able to unseat Android in 2013. And if Apple really is slipping, it might be years before another company is able to offer a mobile platform as compelling as Android.

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Comment »

  • VotersRights

    The problem with Android is that it’s a copy cat of iOS. Which means it looks and acts much like iOS but the entire ecosystem does not work together as well as iOS. For many users, that doesn’t matter, but where iOS (and OS X) really shines is when users use iCloud for reminders, photos, music, notes, contacts, etc. etc. and everything is constantly updated between a Mac or iPad and the iPhone. Android doesn’t have a built in default system like that, not to mention the fragmentation with 800 million different models and none of them are updated on a set schedule.

    • casinrm

      Android’s only similarity to iOS is that it has a touch screen and a grid of apps. The similarities end there. It has widgets, a superior notification center, which iOS shamelessly copied, and a system of defaults and intents that allows setting default apps and inter-app communication. Google has already had an iCloud equivalent way before iCloud. Google Music, GMail, Google Drive, G+ Photos, Contacts, etc. all automatically sync without user intervention.
      Seriously why do you come to Cult of Android if all you want to do is bash Android?

    • Deryk Barker

      So when the technicican called in by my neighbour to synch her iPhone, iPad and OSX desktop took several hours to manage it, he and she were hallucinating?

      The (the?) problem with Mac fanbois is that they imagine that everything that looks slightly similar has been stolen.

      It never seems to occur to them that Apple are far from innocent in this respect.

      I have never and will never buy anything from this obnoxious company.

  • iPhart

    Who TF made this site? LOL

    It is made from the same iBoys that
    made Cult Of Mac, to defend the izombies , and to show than normal
    people are not better than iZombies? LOL . We can see here too, the app drawer on the android device, instead of normal home screen.
    We, the normal people do not need any Cult or any Messiah .

    FU stupid iboys.

    Who pay you for this dirty iTricks? Yes we know. LOL.LOL,LOL

  • tiredofbalckracists

    I’ve had both and the Iphone is by far the superior phone. It’s not even debateable.

About the author

Buster HeineBuster Heine is Cult of Android's Social Media Editor. Hailing from Roswell, New Mexico, but now spending his days in Phoenix, Arizona, he wastes most of his time eating burritos and reading spanish romance novels.  Twitter: @bst3r.

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