Android Was in 83.4 Percent of Smartphones Shipped Q3, Says Report

More than eight in every 10 of the 320.4 million smartphones shipped globally in Q3 were Android devices, Strategy Analytics said Friday in a blog post. It estimated overall shipments jumped 27 percent from the 252.9 million smartphones shipped in Q3 a year earlier. "Smartphone growth continues to be driven by robust demand in emerging markets, particularly Asia and Africa Middle East," Strategy said. Android's domination of global smartphone shipments remained strong with an "impressive" 83.6 percent share, vs. 81.4 percent a year earlier, it said. Android's gain "came at the expense of every major rival platform," as BlackBerry's global smartphone share fell slightly to 0.7 percent from 1 percent a year earlier, it said. The iPhone’s share dipped to 12.3 percent from 13.4 percent "because of its limited presence at the lower end of the smartphone market," it said. Microsoft Windows Phone continued to struggle in China and Japan, and its global smartphone market share fell to 3.3 percent from 4.1 percent, Strategy said. "Android's leadership of the global smartphone market looks unbeatable at the moment. Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. However, challenges are emerging for Google. The Android platform is getting overcrowded with hundreds of hardware brands, Android smartphone prices are falling worldwide, and few Android device vendors make profits."