Google Android operating system (OS) is set to dominate the high growth developing markets, said ABI Research.
ABI Research said Android dominated the Q1 2014 shipment for smartphone advanced OS with 80 percent market share (including AOSP) of just under 300 million smartphones shipped in Q1 2014.
Google Android OS (excluding AOSP) market share rose 44 percent in Q1 2014 from 39 percent in Q1 2013. Apple iOS share increased to 13 percent from 11 percent. Microsoft Windows OS grew to 3 percent from 1 percent. BlackBerry did not make any impact.
Basic mobile phones lost 5 percent market share and Android picked up almost all of these users, said ABI Research.
Google Android is likely to gain almost all of the billions of mobile subscribers still upgrading to smartphones.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone continued its steady progress with 16 percent sequential growth and an increase of 1 percent in market share.
ABI Research noted that Microsoft Windows Phone is currently the only viable third ecosystem.
The report said that BlackBerry has faded on all fronts (BlackBerry 10 and OS).
Though Firefox remains a potential low-cost challenger, it has yet to make any significant impact in the smartphone OS market.
Apple’s iOS achieved 17 percent year-on-year growth. Apple growth is flattening and the iPhone 5c has done little to boost sales volumes.
