Apple and Android rule smartphone world with 85% market share
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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Smartphones powered by Android or Apple software accounted for an unprecedented 85 per cent of the global market in the second quarter of this year, industry tracker IDC reported on Wednesday.
"The mobile OS (operating system) market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS," IDC senior research analyst Kevin Restivo said in the firm's quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report.
"There is still room for some mobile OS competitors to gain share, although such efforts will become increasingly difficult as smartphone penetration increases."
Google-backed Android accounted for a "commanding" 68.1 per cent of all smartphones shipped in the three-month period; while BlackBerry and Symbian saw their shares slip to 4.8 and 4.4 per cent respectively, according to IDC.
