Monday, February 2, 2015

"Certified" Android Loses Share in Q4 2014; Apple Erupts

“Certified” Android smartphone shipments fell quarter over quarter for the first time in the fourth quarter 2014, in part because of gains by Apple IoS and partly because “forked” versions of Android are gaining market share.

Certified Android shipments fell from 217 million in the third quarter of  2014 to 206 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Apple iOS had share growth of 90 percent. Where Apple shipped 39.3 million devices in the third quarter, Apple moved 74.5 million iPhones in the fourth quarter of 2014.

“Google’s Android is being attacked by Apple’s iOS at the high end and forked Android and AOSP at the low end in high growth emerging markets,” said Nick Spencer, ABI Research senior practice director.

Such changes are far from unusual. In 2007, Nokia was far and away the global leader in handsets. By 2014, Apple had surged to the lead, Nokia had fallen far back and some 2007 suppliers either had exited the market, or were on the verge of irrelevance. Sustainable advantage in the mobile device market seems unlikely.  

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