Strategy Analytics has reported that its analysis is that 375 million smartphones were shipped in Q3 2016, 6% from 354.2 million in Q3 2015, with 88% using the Android operating system. “Modest smartphone regrowth is being supported by emerging markets with relatively low smartphone penetration across Asia and Africa Middle East, particularly countries such as India and South Africa”, said Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics.
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at the firm, said that “Android’s gain came at the expense of every major rival platform. Apple iOS lost ground to Android and dipped to 12% share worldwide in Q3 2016, due to a lacklustre performance in China and Africa. BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Phone have all but disappeared due to strategic shifts, while Tizen and other emerging platforms softened as a result of limited product portfolios and modest developer support”.
Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Several challenges remain for Google. The Android platform is getting overcrowded with hundreds of manufacturers, few Android device vendors make profits, and Google’s new Pixel range is attacking its own hardware partners that made Android popular in the first place”.
