The latest numbers from research firm Gartner reveal that the smartphone industry continues to be largely a two-horse race between iOS and Android. The two mobile operating systems combined for 98.4 percent worldwide market share in the fourth calendar quarter of 2015, compared to 96.4 percent in the year-ago quarter.
Android remained the world's most widely used smartphone operating system with 80.7 percent market share, while iOS recorded 17.7 percent market share. The fourth quarter has historically been the most successful for iPhone and Android-based smartphone sales due to the holiday shopping season.
Apple and Samsung shipped a collective 551.2 million smartphones in 2015, trailed by Huawei, Lenovo-Motorola, and Xiaomi with 107.1 million, 73.9 million, and 72 million shipments respectively, according to recent Strategy Analytics data. Global smartphone shipments totaled a record 1.44 billion in 2015.
Windows Phone was perhaps the closest platform to being a true third place competitor, but its market share has dwindled as iOS and Android continue to grow. Samsung and Mozilla also have Linux-based mobile operating systems in Tizen and Firefox OS respectively, but adoption of each platform is comparatively slim.
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 12:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker.
In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
Friday February 14, 2025 6:03 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the HomePod mini in November 2020, followed by the AirTag in May 2021, and both still remain first-generation products.
Fortunately, rumors suggest that both the HomePod mini and the AirTag will finally be updated at some point this year.
Below, we recap rumors about the HomePod mini 2 and AirTag 2.
HomePod mini 2
In January 2025, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple is ...
Not sure what those entities have to do with this thread.
You said consumers should care about profits, and I'm guessing when your electric bill, gas bill, cell bill, interest rate etc goes up, you aren't cheering the companies on because they are making a good profit.
iOS and Android Capture Combined 98.4% Share of Smartphone Market
Interesting language in the title.
Really, it should read something like "Apple secures just 17.7% of market, down from 20.4%" or "Apple's smartphone market share declines to 17.7%". But by lumping Apple in with Android, MacRumors are trying to make it all sound positive for Apple.
Microsoft could use the same logic by saying "iOS, Android and Windows Phone capture combined 99.5% share of smartphone market"
No mention of the fact that Windows is at 87%. No mention of the fact that various Linuxes and Unixes make up another 2% or so.
But when we talk about iOS, it's important to talk about the market share that everyone else has, and the fact that iOS + Android make up 98% of the market, even though nearly identical statements could be said about OS X and Windows. [doublepost=1455811689][/doublepost] That's because Microsoft has thrown in the towel. They're now putting their services on Android and iOS devices.
Although I feel that the move was premature. I feel like they could really use laptops running Windows 10 to sell Surface products, which could then be used to sell Windows 10 Phones.
My view is that Microsoft really screwed up and had a great chance to come up with a third alternative system that would have had great leverage in taking advantage of Windows 10. Instead, they are short sighted and only playing with others.
