Android and Apple devices dominate in smartphones, according to research firm IDC. Google’s Android software for mobile devices was running on 75 percent of smartphones shipped in the third quarter, as the search company extended its lead over Apple. Apple’s iOS system, used in iPhones, was second with a market share of 15 percent.
Apple’s new iPhone didn’t come out until late in the quarter, while Samsung and other Android makers had major releases earlier. Companies making Android devices include Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and Motorola Mobility, which Google now owns. Samsung also makes phones running Bada, which is based on Linux. Nokia has traditionally relied on Symbian, but it is now banking its future on Windows.
Here are IDC’s top operating systems based on worldwide smartphone unit sales and market share in the third quarter of 2012. Figures for the fourth quarter have not yet been released.
_ Android (Google Inc.) _ 136 million units, 75 percent share (57.5 percent a year earlier)
_ iOS (Apple Inc.’s iPhone) _ 26.9 million units, 14.9 percent share (13.8 percent a year earlier)
_ BlackBerry (Research in Motion Ltd.) _ 7.7 million units, 4.3 percent share (9.5 percent a year earlier)
_ Symbian (mostly used by Nokia Corp.) _ 4.1 million units, 2.3 percent share (14.6 percent a year earlier)
_ Windows (Microsoft Corp.) _ 3.6 million units, 2 percent share (1.2 percent a year earlier)
_ Linux _ 2.8 million units, 1.5 percent share (3.3 percent a year earlier)
Source: IDC.
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