The storm for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android-based smartphones seems to be abating with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iOS leading the market share growth tally from the front. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Windows-centric smartphones have also shown signs of recovery at the cost of Blackberry phones from Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) and Android. Android, an operating system from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stable is still the market leader in the mobile phone operating systems segment with more than a 51% share.
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This means that every second smartphone in the world runs on Google’s Android. Also, Android, with its debut in 2008, has taken place of Symbian, which was a market leader five years ago. The latest report released by comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) reveals this and more.
A mobile operating system is software that operates a mobile device like a smartphone, a PDA or a tablet. These days, developers are trying to stuff many features of personal computing in mobile OS. Some of the most popular ones includes Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS navigation system, music players, cameras, and Near Field Communication (NFC).
The most popular mobile operating systems available in the market today include: Android from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), iOS from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Blackberry from Research in Motion, Windows from Microsoft, and Symbian OS from Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK).
Per the comScore report, Android, an OS from Google and BlackBerry, by Research in Motion, are the biggest market share losers in the mobile operating system segment with a negative growth of 2 percentage points and 1.9 percentage points respectively.
The biggest gainer is the iOS by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), with a 3.9 percentage point-growth in market share, followed by Microsoft’s Windows with a 0.2 percentage point growth.
Apple, interestingly enough, was the only company of this “fab five” to place in the top five of comScore’s OEM (original equipment manufacturer) report as well, which is obvious, since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s hardware-to-software advantages are felt throughout the tech world.
comScore, a market leader in providing analytics of mobile phone users in addition to other tech-related data, releases this report every three months through its MobiLens service, and with its latest release for the month ending February 2013, the company completed its 100 months of data collection.
Image credit (above): Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)
The report, which was first published in November 2004, contains information regarding mobile market share, user demographics, market trends, device usage and media activities. comScore covered eight countries, surveyed 3.12 million users and conducted 1176 total surveys to date.
Check out the top five OS platforms–>
No. 5: Symbian OS, Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK)
Market Share (November 2012) : 0.5%
Market Share (February 2013) : 0.5%
Market Share Gain/Loss (in %) : flat
No. 4: Windows, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Market Share (November 2012) : 3.0%
Market Share (February 2013) : 3.2%
Market Share Gain/Loss (in %) : 0.2 percentage points
No. 3: Blackberry, Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)
Market Share (November 2012) : 7.3%
Market Share (February 2013) : 5.4%
Market Share Gain/Loss (in %) : -1.9 percentage points
No. 2: iOS, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Market Share (November 2012) : 35.0%
Market Share (February 2013) : 38.9%
Market Share Gain/Loss (in %) : 3.9 percentage points
No. 1: Android, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Market Share (November 2012) : 53.7 %
Market Share (February 2013) : 51.7 %
Market Share Gain/Loss (in %) : -2.0 percentage points
