Nearly 8 out of 10 smartphones shipped in 2013 came with Google Android, according to market research firm Canalys. It found that 998 million smartphones were shipped in the fifty countries it tracks (just shy of the billion reported by IDC earlier this week) with Android accounting for a staggering 785 million of those.
Android’s market share grew from 68% in 2012 to 79% in 2013. With iOS, Apple remained firmly in second place with a market share that fell from 20% in 2012 to 15% in 2013 despite shipments rising to 154 million. Proving that 2013 was once again a two-horse race, Microsoft’s Windows Phone held down third with a 3% market share. BlackBerry came in fourth with less than 2% of the market.
Windows Phone was the fastest growing mobile operating system in 2013 with shipments rising by 69% over 2012. But shipments actually declined from Q3 to Q4 by 6%, suggesting that Microsoft still has a lot of work ahead of it to firmly establish its operating system as a credible alternative to Android and iOS.
On the manufacturer side, Samsung remained in first place with a 32% market share. It was followed by Apple, Huawei and Lenovo. IDC’s results were similar but had LG in fourth ahead of Lenovo.
With its acquisition of Motorola yesterday, Lenovo may well have become the company to watch. Canalys expects that it will double its smartphone market share within two years and reach double-digits by 2015 at the latest. “‘Lenovo must continue with Motorola’s speed-of-update strategy and ensure it can create pull for its smart phones through the carrier channel in mature markets when up against the might of Apple and Samsung,” said Canalys VP and Principal Analyst, Chris Jones.
Source : Canalys