• Smartphone OS
• Smartphone Vendors

Smartphone OS Market Share, Q2 2014

The worldwide smartphone market grew 25.3% year over year in the second quarter of 2014 (2014Q2), establishing a new single quarter record of 301.3 million shipments, according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. This is the first time ever quarterly smartphone shipments have surpassed the 300 million unit mark, representing a major milestone for the industry. Following a very strong first quarter, the market grew 5.2% sequentially, fueled by ongoing demand for mobile computing and an abundance of low-cost smartphones. Second quarter shipments were in line with IDC's forecast and all expectations are that the market will continue apace in the second half of the year and will likely once again surpass 300 million units in 2014Q3.

Period	Android	iOS	Windows Phone	BlackBerry OS	Others
Q2 2014	84.7%	11.7%	2.5%	0.5%	0.7%
Q2 2013	79.6%	13.0%	3.4%	2.8%	1.2%
Q2 2012	69.3%	16.6%	3.1%	4.9%	6.1%
Q2 2011	36.1%	18.3%	1.2%	13.6%	30.8%

Source: IDC, 2014 Q2

Android continues to dominate the global smartphone market, with over 255 million units shipped and nearly 85% of the market share in the second quarter of 2014. Most of Android's strength this quarter was fueled by gains in the low (US$100<US$200) and ultra low-end (<US$100) of the market, seeing those categories grow 16.5% sequentially since the first quarter. As expected, Samsung was the largest vendor of Android-based devices, followed by Huawei, Lenovo and LG. However, the strength of the top 5 players is weakening, as they collectively accounted for 54.5% of shipments, down from the top 5 a year ago with 63.0% share.

iOS experienced a slight drop in market share, down to just 11.7% from 13.0% in the same quarter last year, representing the growing shift of demand toward low-cost smartphones. Despite the launch of the iPhone 5C to address a wider market base, most iOS devices remain out of reach for the average consumer. iOS enthusiasts, however, are eagerly awaiting the next device launch which could help lead to a much stronger third and fourth quarter, depending on the timing of its release.

Windows Phone is up slightly from the first quarter, seeing shipments of 7.4 million. However, this represents a drop of 9.4% from the same period last year. Windows Phone growth continues to come from Nokia, despite a healthy showing of Android-based Nokia X shipments in second quarter.

Blackberry managed to slightly increase its market share in the second quarter, although it remains below one percent share. However, this is a good sign for the struggling smartphone maker, as most of the increase this quarter came from its BlackBerry 10 devices. This represents only the second quarterly increase for BlackBerry 10 since its release in 2013.