New data released by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech has shown that Android is dominating the mobile OS market share in Australia, following similar trends throughout Europe and the US.
Android is the OS installed on 56.9 per cent of smartphones in Australia, up from 36.4 per cent at the same time last year. Apple’s iOS holds on to a significant 30.5 per cent market share, according to these figures, but has lost 6.4 per cent share since June last year. Nokia’s Symbian platform took the biggest hit, losing 17 per cent of its market position, while BlackBerry use is down to a meagre 0.1 per cent.
These numbers generally reflect the install base of these platforms in other major Western countries, where Android is the OS used by at least half of all smartphone users in each region. Spain is the country with the greatest Android reach, with 84.1 per cent, and, predictably, the lowest iOS use as a result (3.2 per cent). It was the Symbian platform that was hit hardest in Spain over the last 12 months, though, plummeting from 40.2 per cent market share to just 3.4 per cent this year.
BlackBerry numbers waned across the board, with strongholds like Great Britain shedding half of its BlackBerry users. Windows Phone 7 is the only platform to see increases in all listed regions, but they were small gains of up to 3 per cent only.