Android is on quite a roll this year, increasing their market share in the US some 20%, making them the number one mobile OS. The United States isn’t the only place where it’s in far more consumers’ hands.
A new smartphone platform study looks at market share across several different platforms. In the past year alone, Android has exploded from 58.2% in Q3 2011 to 90.1% in Q3 2012, an almost 32% increase.
Surprisingly, iOS was at 5.8% the same time last year and is now at 4.2%. With Chinese manufacturers creating new Android phones left and right and Apple only having a select few, it’s no surprise that Android has managed to take over the market at such a high level.
Average pricing for Android handsets has decreased from $251 to $223, also aiding in increasing market share. One factor that’s not taken into consideration however is jailbroken iPhones, those that were not purchased directly through Apple and work on other carriers.
We’ve long heard about how prevalent that is in China and it could definitely contribute to a good percentage of total iOS market share. Also, many manufacturers aren’t creating phones with what many would see as Android in its purest form, but with their own variant and skin thrown on top.
This is a big concern for Google who’s been pushing to have phones updated as best as possible. Thing is though, when you have an open source platform that anyone can use, you open yourself up to that kind of stuff.