iOS Captured 22% of the Global Smartphone Market in Q4 2012

iOS and Android accounted for a combined 92% of all smartphone shipments on a global scale, the latest numbers from Strategy Analytics show, as worldwide smartphone shipments hit a record 217 million units in Q4 2012, representing a 38% growth on a year-over-year basis.

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Analyzing the holiday quarter, Strategy Analytics found that Apple’s iOS recorded a 29% growth annually by selling 47.8 million devices in just 13 weeks. It also grabbed 22% of the worldwide smartphone shipments, dipping slightly from 24% reported a year earlier.

However, as you can see from the above image, Android smartphones account for the majority of the global smartphone shipments, accounting for about 152.1 million units of the 217 million handsets shipped during the October-December period.

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “We estimate 152.1 million Android smartphones were shipped globally in Q4 2012, nearly doubling from 80.6 million units in Q4 2011. Android’s share of the global smartphone market has surged from 51 percent to 70 percent over the past year, crushing Symbian, Bada and other platforms in its wake. Almost half-a-billion Android smartphones were shipped in total worldwide during 2012. Android is clearly the undisputed volume leader of the smartphone industry at the present time. Android’s challenge for 2013 will be to defend its leadership, not only against Apple, but also against an emerging wave of hungry challengers that includes Microsoft, Blackberry, Firefox and Tizen.”

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