iOS vs Android: Google OS Rules Smartphone Market; Takes 85% Share Worldwide

The OS war rages on. A recent survey notes that Android, the free operating system from Google, now has 85 percent of the global smartphone market.

According to Yahoo, market research firm Strategy Analytics noted that even as overall smartphone shipments are up 27 percent from a year ago, most of the growth comes from devices running the Android OS. Android's chief rival, iOS from Apple, has fallen to 11.9 percent from 13.4 percent last year, despite increasing sales to 35 million in the second quarter of 2014.

The Microsoft OS dropped from 3.8 percent to 2.7 percent as Windows Phone sales declined to eight million units in the quarter, down from 8.9 million last year. Meanwhile, BlackBerry shrunk even further from 2.4 percent to a measly 0.6 percent, a fall of 66 percent.

There has been 295.2 million smartphone shipments during this same period, although this is also the market's slowest growth level in five years. Still, there are wide regional differences. Analyst Linda Sui told Yahoo that, "Africa and Asia are booming, while North America and Europe are maturing."

Explaining the appeal of Android, Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston states that, "Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain wildly attractive to hardware makers, operators, and consumers worldwide. Rival OS vendors are going to have to do something revolutionary to overturn Android's huge lead in smartphone shipments."

The Next Web notes that even though Samsung and Apple continue to be the top smartphones of choice, up-and-coming Chinese smartphone manufacturers have been steadily rising. Though Samsung shipped 74.5 million units worldwide for a 25 percent market share, this is down from the 33 percent that it owned a year ago. For its part, Apple shipped 35.2 million smartphones, with its own market share falling from 13.4 percent to 11.9 percent.

A curious trend is the rise of Chinese-made smartphones such as Huawei and Lenovo. Strategy Analytics describes unheralded Xiaomi as a "star performer" for its own impact on the market. Xiaomi is now the fifth-largest smartphone developer by capturing a five percent share in the market after shipping 15.1 million units.

The market research firm goes on to say that, "Xiaomi's Android smartphone models are wildly popular in the Chinese market and it shifts millions of them every quarter through its extensive online and operator channels." The next step for Xiaomi will likely be to go outside its comfort zone by targeting Asia and even Europe.