IDC: Android and iOS Account for 96.4% of Global Smartphone Market

Worldwide smartphone shipments exceeded the 300 million unit mark in the second quarter of 2014, reports IDC. Vendors shipped a total of 301.3 million smartphones worldwide, up 25.3% from Q2 2013.

iOS and Android continue to remain the dominant operating systems and the two saw their combined market share rise to 96.4% in the second quarter. Android was the primary source of growth, shipping 255.3 million smartphones in 2Q14, accounting for 84.7% of the market share for 2Q14 -- up 33.3% from 2Q13. iOS saw 35.2 million units shipped, a 12.7% increase from 2Q13. The rest of the smartphone market (Windows Phone, BlackBerry, etc) saw losses.

"With many of its OEM partners focusing on the sub-$200 segments, Android has been reaping huge gains within emerging markets," says Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team. "During the second quarter, 58.6% of all Android smartphone shipments worldwide cost less than $200 off contract, making them very attractive compared to other devices. With the recent introduction of Android One, in which Google offers reference designs below $100 to Android OEMs, the proportion of sub-$200 volumes will climb even higher."

"It's been an incredible upward slog for other OS players – Windows Phone has been around since 2010 but has yet to break the 5% share mark, while the backing of the world's largest smartphone player, Samsung, has not boosted Tizen into the spotlight," said Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "The biggest stumbling block is around getting enough partnerships in play – not just phone manufacturers but also developers, many of which are smaller outfits looking to minimize development efforts by sticking to the two big ecosystems."

iOS reached its lowest quarter volume for the year as rumors of two new iPhone models launching soon continue to linger.

Read More