iOS Vs. Android: Is Google Winning The Smartphone OS War?
Is Google winning the smartphone OS war? Or has it already won the battle? This is the question in everyone’s minds after new research conducted by analytics firm Strategy Analytics revealed that Google’s popular smartphone OS is now found on close to 90 percent of all the smartphones being shipped globally.
In a press release issued by Strategy Analytics, the firm revealed that its research had found that Google Android now runs on more than 87 percent of the smartphones that were shipped in the third quarter of 2016. The rest of the players in the smartphone OS space only account for the remaining 12 percent of the shipments.
While most other smartphone operating systems have faded into oblivion, the only platform giving some competition to Android is Apple’s iOS. According to the latest data, iOS actually lost a couple of percentage points in the third quarter of 2016 when compared to the same period in Q3, 2015. iOS had a global market share of 13.6 percent in Q3 2015, which dipped to 12.1 percent in Q3, 2016. In the same period, Android managed to increase its dominance from having a market share of 84.1 percent in Q3 2015 to reaching 87.5 percent in Q3 2016. While Android shipments saw a 10.3 percent growth, iOS shipments dropped by 5.2 percent in the same time period. The growth of Android was also at the cost of other players who saw a decline of a staggering 84.1 percent in shipments in the past year. The only significant name in this segment is Windows Phone, which is now more or less dead.
#android achieves record 87.5 percent of global smartphone shipments in Q3 2016 https://t.co/aLvZhQzCHm pic.twitter.com/nXVFl2lqTC
— Android Authority (@AndroidAuth) November 3, 2016
According to Strategy Analytics, the global smartphone industry saw an overall growth in the third quarter of 2016 with shipments growing by 6 percent compared to the same period last year. Compared to the 354.2 million smartphone shipments in Q3, 2015, more than 375.4 million handsets were shipped in Q3, 2016 — most of these shipments being Android powered devices. Strategy Analytics went on to add that this was the fastest growth rate for a year recorded in recent times. Most of the new smartphone growth comes from markets in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, where smartphone penetration is still relatively lower and there is plenty of room for growth. While countries like India and China have slowed a down a bit, both still contribute heavily to help Android win the numbers game.
Commenting on the latest smartphone operating system trends, Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, said the following.
“Android’s domination of global smartphone shipments remained strong in Q3 2016, with a record 88 percent of all smartphones now running Google’s OS. Android’s gain came at the expense of every major rival platform. Apple iOS lost ground to Android and dipped to 12 percent share worldwide in Q3 2016, due to a lackluster performance in China and Africa. BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Phone have all but disappeared due to strategic shifts, while Tizen and other emerging platforms softened as a result of limited product portfolios and modest developer support.”
Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics, added the following.
“Android’s leadership of the global smartphone market looks unassailable at the moment. Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide.”
He was, however, of the opinion that even though things look great for Android, things are all not rosy. The Android platform is currently very cluttered and overcrowded. Also, very few Android vendors are actually making money. Add to it the fact that Google themselves have launched their own devices, which sort of puts them in conflict with its own hardware partners. Another interesting facet about iOS is the fact that even with less than 15 percent of the market, it still manages to match Android when it comes to contributing to global mobile internet traffic.
With almost 15% of device shipments, iOS generates the same global internet traffic than Android phones (via @BenedictEvans ) pic.twitter.com/oL6U7tYKMC
— Benoit Tabaka (@btabaka) November 2, 2016
While there is no denying the fact that the introduction of the Apple iPhone back in 2007 heralded a new era for smartphones, do you think it was Android and Google that has benefited more from the innovations that iOS first brought to the table?
[Featured Image by Pixabay]
