Strategy Analytics has produced a new study showing that in the 4th quarter of 2012, Android and Apple iOS together accounted for a record 92% share of all smartphones shipped worldwide.
In the fourth quarter, a massive 217 million units were shipped globally, a 38% increase year-on-year from 2011. For the entire 2012, the report states that 700.1 million units were shipped, up from 490.1 million in 2011.
As markets matured and became saturated in developed countries such as the US, global shipment growth slowed from 64% in 2011 to 43% in 2012.
The leaders? In #1 position was Android, with 152.1 million smartphones shipped globally in Q4, moving their market share from 51% to 70% in 2012. In second place was iOS (Apple) with 47.8 million smartphones sold worldwide for a 22% share of the market.
| Global Smartphone OS Shipments (Millions of Units) | Q4 ’11 | 2011 | Q4 ’12 | 2012 |
| Android | 80.6 | 238.9 | 152.1 | 479 |
| Apple iOS | 37 | 93 | 47.8 | 135.8 |
| Others | 39.4 | 158.6 | 17.1 | 85.3 |
| Total | 157 | 490.5 | 217 | 700.1 |
That means all other vendors shared just 8% of the global smartphone market in 2012. However, there is likely to be more competition in 2013, with a surging Windows Phone 8, Blackberry’s new OS, Firefox-based smartphones and Samsung’s Tizen smartphones.
| Global Smartphone OS Marketshare  % | Q4 ’11 | 2011 | Q4 ’12 | 2012 |
| Android | 51.3% | 48.7% | 70.1% | 68.4% |
| Apple iOS | 23.6% | 19.0% | 22.0% | 19.4% |
| Others | 25.1% | 32.3% | 7.9% | 12.2% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
As the rate of growth begins to slow, there are fewer windows of opportunity for Microsoft to carve out serious share, but 2013 is the year to do it.
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