Google’s Android has been crowned as the most popular in the United Kingdom, with studies showing that 36.9% of smartphones run on a version of the software.
The figures show the phenomenal growth of Android year-on-year. In January of 2011 Android represented 20.1% of smartphones in the UK, trailing both Apple’s iOS and Nokia’s Symbian operating systems.
Mind you, it’s hardly surprising given the number of manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon every month, particularly to hit the budget market. Google has benefitted from many manufacturers adopting Android as their primary OS, and subsequently releasing a number of phones of all shapes, sizes and prices.
If you look at the chart above comparing the figures from January of last year and the same time this year, we can see where Android has been helped out by Nokia’s falling Symbian OS. Holding up in second place last year, the now-almost abandoned OS from Nokia has fallen by 13.6% in the market share stakes, which Google’s Android has kindly gobbled up.
With many people opting to move away from the typical feature phones from Nokia and on to a smartphone, Android has succeeded in being available in many types of devices to suit all buyers.
Despite only having 4 smartphones on the market today (iPhone 3, 3GS, 4 and 4S), Apple has still maintained a hefty chunk of the market, but has lost a 0.7% share of the market. Whether this has been to Android or other rivals such as BlackBerry and Windows Phone is anyone’s guess, but we’ll be interested to see these figures at the same time next year, after the iPhone 5 is released and the prices of older models drop further.
Are you a proud Android fanatic? Let us know why you love the OS so much.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Via: The Guardian
Source: Kantar