Skip to main content

Android, iOS sweep up with 96 percent of smartphone market

global smartphone shipments pass 300m for first time in single quarter
Image used with permission by copyright holder

New data released by research firm IDC on Wednesday confirms what we pretty much already knew, though the specific stats it provides may prove interesting for some.

IDC’s analysis of the smartphone market shows that Android and iOS devices accounted for a whopping 95.7 percent of global shipments in the final three months of last year, an increase of 4.5 percent on the same period a year earlier. The pair secured 93.8 percent of the market for the whole of 2013 (up 6.1 percent on 2012), the first year on record where shipments of such devices crossed the billion mark.

Recommended Videos

It’s Google’s Android OS, however, that continues to push ahead in the market, with a Q4 2013 share of 78.1 percent, up from 70.3 percent a year earlier. Apple’s iOS, on the other hand, dropped more than 3 percent, from 20.9 percent in Q4 2012 to 17.6 percent last year.

idc smartphones q4 2013
Image used with permission by copyright holder

At the other end of the scale, BlackBerry continues to lose users, with IDC’s data revealing the troubled company secured only 0.6 of the smartphone market in the final three months of 2013 against 3.2 percent in 2012. According to IDC, the Waterloo, Ontario company sold just 1.7 million smartphones in this period, compared to 7.4 million a year earlier. More worryingly, BB7 devices outpaced its new BB10 smartphones toward the close of the year, IDC noted.

With every quarter that passes, Windows Phone further establishes itself as the number three player, though still a small one. Its market share for Q4 2013 stood at 3 percent, up from 2.6 percent in 2012, with 8.8 million smartphones shipped at the close of last year compared to 6 million a year earlier.

IDC said in its report that although smartphone growth was strong last year, “the era of double-digit annual growth has only a few years remaining.”

Looking at its findings, IDC’s Ryan Reith pointed out that last year the sub-$200 smartphone market grew to 42.6% of global volume, or 430 million units.

He commented, “While the market moves downstream to cheaper products, it makes sense for Samsung and others to continue their marketing investments geared toward high-end products.

“These efforts build crucial brand perception while having less expensive alternatives that closely relate to these top products helps to close the deal. Samsung has done exactly this with the ‘Galaxy’ line. The family name is associated with Samsung’s high-end products, yet there are ‘Galaxy’ variants offered by Samsung at much lower price points than the Note 3 and S4. This has been an important factor in how Samsung has sustained its market lead.”

[Image: Kostenko Maxim / Shutterstock]

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
iOS 18’s best AI tools arrive in December, but Siri has a longer wait
Apple Intelligence on iPhone 15 Pro.

The Apple Intelligence toolkit has witnessed a staggered mix of delayed features and underwhelming perks. But it seems that the most promising set of those AI tools that Apple revealed at WWDC earlier this year is right around the corner.

In the latest edition of his PowerOn newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes that the iOS 18.2 update will start rolling out via the stable channel in the first week of December.

Read more
How to change your iPhone call and messaging apps in iOS 18.2
Screenshot showing the iPhone screen where you can change default apps on iOS 18.2.

The upcoming iOS 18.2 release will allow users to change their default calling and messaging apps on their iPhones. In other words, you will no longer need to use Apple’s native apps if you don’t want to. Here are the relatively easy steps to do so.

Read more
How to sign up for Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.1
Apple Intelligence on iPhone 15 Pro.

One of the biggest features in iOS 18 is Apple Intelligence. However, while the iPhone 16 line launched with iOS 18 out of the box, Apple Intelligence wasn’t ready quite yet. Now, the latest iOS 18.1 update finally brings those AI goodies to your compatible iPhone.

Of course, you may have updated and tried to use those Apple Intelligence features, but can’t seem to get them to work. That’s because you have to sign up for them before they’re available to you.

Read more