Mobile marketers, advertisers, and app developers may want to make Android a higher priority.
According to a new report from IDC, the worldwide smartphone market is on fire. In the second quarter of this year, 300 million units shipped for the first time ever — a milestone quarter, says the IDC, and a landmark achievement for the smartphone industry.
“Android was the primary driver with its vendor partners shipping a total of 255.3 million Android-based smartphones in 2Q14, up 33.3% year over year,” the report summary reads.
Impressively, the dominant smartphone operating systems, Android and iOS, saw their combined market share swell to 96.4% for the quarter, leaving little space for competitors.
“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.”