Android continues to dominate the mobile market. Strategy Analytics, an independent research and consulting firm, released a report describing the current mobile market space in Q3 2016, including total device shipments and growth of the major mobile operating systems. The full report can be found on the Strategy Analytics website.
In its study, Google's Android operating system showed a year over year (YoY) growth of 10.3 percent with total shipments increasing from 298.0 to 328.6 million units. All other operating systems fell, including Apple's iOS, which dropped 5.4 percent as compared to Q3 ‘15.
Woody Oh, director at Strategy Analytics, stated, “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." He cited some challenges that Android might face in the future, such as an increasingly overcrowded manufacturer market and the lack of profitable Android device vendors. Oh also noted, "Google’s new Pixel range is attacking its own hardware partners that made Android popular in the first place.”
According to the report, Android devices now made up 87.5 percent of worldwide shipments, with iOS following at 12.1 percent. Other mobile operating systems, including Windows Mobile and Blackberry OS, contributed to the remaining .3 percent.
Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, explained, "BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Phone have all but disappeared due to strategic shifts, while Tizen and other emerging platforms softened as a result of limited product portfolios and modest developer support.”
Recently, Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, admitted that Microsoft had missed the mobile boom. Per its latest earnings report, Apple's iPhone sales dropped 15 percent in Q3 ‘16. Blackberry also confirmed in September that it would no longer build its own hardware.
Source: Business Wire
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