The Android operating system, owned by Google achieved a new milestone by accounting for 81.0% of all Smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2013 ((3Q13). The IDCs (International Data Corporation) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker revealed that this was the first time that Android topped 81% of the Smartphone market, closely followed by Microsoft’s Windows Phone, which grew an amazing 156.0% in the last year. Even in spite of high saturation rates in a number of mature markets, the overall Smartphone space has grown by a whopping 39.9% in the third quarter of 2013.
The IDC study, released on 12th November revealed that a total of 261.1 million Smartphones were shipped during the third quarter of 2013, with 81% running on Google’s Android operating system. Among the leading Smartphone manufacturers that run Android on their mobile devices, Samsung achieved the highest market share, with their Galaxy S4 ruling 39% of all Android shipments made in the third quarter of this year.