Jan 20, 2014

Android platform market share in 2013

More than nine out of ten smartphones in South Korea ran on Google Inc.'s Android platform, data showed Tuesday.

Around 93 percent of smartphones in the country were powered by the Android platform, far above the 5.1 percent for Apple Inc.'s iOS, the data by market researcher Strategy Analytics showed.

Market shares for the Blackberry OS and Microsoft Corp.'s Window Phone OS stood at 0.1 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively, in the country, with Nokia Corp.'s Symbian rarely used.

Market watchers point to the country's two major technology firms, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., as well as the smaller Pantech Co. focusing on Android-powered smartphones.

Android accounted for 67.5 percent of the global market last year, with South Korea the only country with a figure above the 90-percent mark. Apple's average market share came to 15.7 percent.

Apple's iOS posted its highest market share in the United States at 36.8 percent, which was still below the 56 percent posted by its rival Android, followed by Singapore (35.4 percent) and Australia (34.9 percent).

Among the 88 countries tallied, Android outpaced iOS in all, with Canada, Indonesia, Finland, Nigeria and Venezuela the only countries where Google accounted for less than half of the market.

Canada's Blackberry was the top platform in Venezuela at 49.3 percent, more than the 15 percent it posted in the home country.

Strategy Analytics' market share data was compiled on the Installed Base criteria, which tracks devices currently being used in the market instead of tracking the number of smartphones sold over a given period.