iOS Adoption Remains at Lowest Levels Since 2014 as Android Captures Record 87.5% Market Share

The latest data from market research firm Strategy Analytics claims Android captured a record 87.5% share of the worldwide smartphone market in the third quarter, reflecting the period between late June and late September.

Strategy Analytics director Woody Oh on Android's continued dominance:

Android's leadership of the global smartphone market looks unassailable at the moment. Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. However, several challenges remain for Google. The Android platform is getting overcrowded with hundreds of manufacturers, few Android device vendors make profits, and Google's new Pixel range is attacking its own hardware partners that made Android popular in the first place.

While most of Android's gains can be attributed to the continued demise of BlackBerry and Windows smartphones, which are now practically non-existent on the market, iOS adoption remains at its lowest levels since mid 2014.

iOS recorded 12.1% market share in the quarter, down slightly from 13.6% in the year-ago quarter, allegedly due to a lackluster performance in China and Africa. That nearly mirrors the platform's 12.2% market share in Q3 2014.

iOS and Android together account for 99.6% market share in what has become a two-horse race over the past several years. Windows Phone is virtually dead, and BlackBerry recently said it is done designing its own smartphones.

Tags: Android, Strategy Analytics

Top Rated Comments

cyphers72

123 months ago

Basically an irrelevant number. As smartphones penetrate India, Africa, and other countries with extremely large no-income populations, the only factor is cost. That's not a "market". Android phones get dumped there in large quantities with low quality. A more relevant number is a country by country marketshare. Though, even that is easily misinterpreted.

Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)

masterhiggins

123 months ago

I think it's a clear sign that they need to make the iPhone thinner by removing all ports and the screen.

Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)

applesith

123 months ago

Most of the world is poor, so this makes sense.

Apple never tried to be the most accessible by price.

Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)

blackcrayon

123 months ago

I switched to Android in 2011. This year, I thought I'd give iOS a go and bought an iPhone 7.

After five weeks, I've switched back. iPhones are great phones, but the software is frustrating, awkward and unintuitive. Apple really are being left behind - they're not listening to their consumers (or, at least, the ones who are leaving) whereas Android are..

Funny, I think the same thing when I use my Android devices. Seems more like what you're used to than anything else.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

aaronhead14

123 months ago

Well, duh.... This is what happens when you make a phone that's arguably worse than the previous model...

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

illegalprelude

123 months ago

In other news, Android profitability remains at an all time zero with so many OEMS being suckered into a vision of bankruptcy with only Google to gain from it all.

Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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