Android Holds Dominant Lead in the Smartphone Market

The race for the leading smartphone platform has been decided. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Android phones accounted for almost 70 percent of global smartphone sales to end users, relegating Apple’s iOS to a distant second. Apple still hold roughly one fifth of the smartphone market, but it won’t catch up with Android anytime soon.

The third ranked BackBerry continued to lose market share, but will surely hope to regain some traction following the release of the well-received BlackBerry 10 OS. Microsoft increased its market share from 1.8 percent in Q4 2011 to 3 percent, but for now Windows Phone remains a niche platform.