Android- and iOS-powered mobile phones constituted eight out of every 10 smartphones shipped in the first quarter, amounting to 59% and 23%, respectively, of the 152.3 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter.
By comparison, in the first quarter of 2011, Android and iOS collectively accounted for 54.4% of shipments.
This is according to International Data Corporation's (IDC's) latest data on the global smartphone market in its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report.
“The share gains mean that Android and iOS have successfully distanced themselves from previous market leaders, Symbian and BlackBerry, as well as Linux and Windows Phone 7/Windows Mobile,” notes IDC.
According to the report, Android's long list of smartphone vendor partners contributed to the platform's dominance. Samsung was the largest contributor - accounting for 45.4% of all Android shipments.
The IDC notes Apple is seeing strong year-on-year growth, with continued demand for the iPhone 4S across an increased number of carriers. According to the research firm, the popularity of the iPhone places additional pressure on mobile operators through subsidies and data revenue-sharing policies.
Senior research analyst for IDC's mobile phone and technology trends programme, Ramon Llamas, says Android and iOS offer a number of features that competition has struggled to keep up with.
"Neither Android nor iOS were the first to market with some of these features, but the way they made the smartphone experience intuitive and seamless has quickly earned a massive following."
Developer loyalty
Senior IDC research analyst, Kevin Restivo, adds OS challengers will need to secure developer loyalty in order to compete with the likes of Android and iOS. "This is true, because developer intentions or enthusiasm for a particular operating system is typically a leading indicator of hardware sales success."
According to the report, Nokia's Symbian platform recorded the largest year-on-year decline - largely driven by the company's transition to the Windows Phone platform.
“But even as Symbian volumes have decreased, there continues to be demand for the OS from the most ardent of users. In addition, Nokia continues to support Symbian, as evidenced by the PureView initiative on the Nokia 808. Still, as Nokia emphasises Windows Phone, IDC expects further declines for Symbian for the rest of this year,” says the report.
Things are also not looking good for the BlackBerry platform as it continued on a downward trajectory. The IDC attributes the decline to the impending release of BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
“In addition, many companies now permit users to bring their own smartphones, allowing competitor operating systems to take away from BlackBerry's market share. Although RIM has not officially released BB 10, initial glimpses of the platform have shown improvement,” says IDC.
As for Windows Phone, IDC says it is anticipating slow growth for the platform as it is yet to make significant inroads in the worldwide smartphone market. The IDC says it sees 2012 as a ramp-up year for Nokia and Microsoft, and growth will be slow until Nokia speeds up its product cycle and other vendors adopt the Windows Phone platform.
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