Android's Vast Global Mobile Market Share Shrinks While iOS Continues to Grow

[MacRumors]

Android's vast global smartphone market dominance has shrunk slightly over the past four years while iOS has continued to increase its overall share, according to a new trend analysis.

Google's Android OS is the most widely used in the world, with smartphone makers of all kinds relying on the mobile operating system to power their devices. As such, it's no surprise that Android controls around two-thirds of the mobile market, but new data from StockApps suggests Google shouldn't take its pre-eminence for granted.

Android controlled 77.32% of the global OS market in July 2018. As of January 2022, four years later, that percentage had dropped to 69.74%. Meanwhile, over the same four-year period, global iOS adoption grew from 19.4% to 25.49%, a 6% increase. According to StockApp's analysis, the remaining 1.58% that Android lost went to other smaller scale OS developers.

The marginal shift in share in no way indicates that Android's dominance is under threat, but despite reports of disappointing iPhone SE sales, it's a positive sign for Apple that its broader strategy of diversifying its iPhone and iPad lineup is paying dividends in a highly competitive space.

StockApps' analysis also includes an interesting geographical breakdown of OS dominance. For instance, in Africa, where Apple devices are more prohibitively expensive, 84% of all smartphones run Android, while iOS accounts for roughly 14% of the continent's devices. It's a similar story in Asia and South America, where Android takes an 81% and 90% share, respectively. By contrast, iOS share is 18% in Asia and 10% in South America.

As expected, Apple's piece of the OS pie is more substantial in North America and Oceania, where it overtakes Google's share. iOS commands 54% of the market in both regions, while Android takes nearly 45%, suggesting that once customers pay the initial higher price of Apple's devices, the quality of its hardware, software, and user support tends to keep consumers within its ecosystem.

Article Link: Android's Vast Global Mobile Market Share Shrinks While iOS Continues to Grow

 

[IsaacM]

Poor Zamzung and Xiomoiu

 

[System603]

It's sad to see that there are only two real* competitors.


edit:
*I don't really consider Android's Vanilla vs Samsung One vs MIUI vs ... as a true competition unlike "old times" of iOS vs Android vs Windows Phone vs webOS vs ... with all the constant one-upmanship. But I guess it comes with the maturity of the platforms plus the immense costs of keeping up both technically and adoption/app-wise.

 

[AndiG]

I like it. Apples OS is a good choice - and the bigger Apple gets the more it gets regulated. No more proprietary Lightning and no more Wallet Garden with the DMA in reach.

Apple should change its mind and turn into a service company.

Think different!!

 

[Skyscraperfan]

We need more competition, even if you like iOS or Android. A whole market just shared by two players is not a healthy market. The 30% commission in the app stores makes that clear.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

We need more competition, even if you like iOS or Android. A whole market just shared by two players is not a healthy market. The 30% commission in the app stores makes that clear.

Hi Tim Sweeney! 👋

 

[alphaswift]

I miss Windows Phone. So many great features.

 

[AndiG]

We need more competition, even if you like iOS or Android. A whole market just shared by two players is not a healthy market. The 30% commission in the app stores makes that clear.

Would be nice to have another choice. We had already - at least nearly. 30% commission will be dust with the DMA.

 

[eenduiker]

It’s a 6% point growth and about 31% growth for Apple. For Andriod it’s 10% decrease and 7,9% points that they lost.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

It's sad to see that there are only two real* competitors. [...]

Yup, it was a sad day when Microsoft gave up on Windows Phone. While I didn't own any of the handsets, things seemed to work well. Features that never really came to light (notably Continuum) would have been really brilliant.

RIM's Blackberry OS 10 also had some really nice features, but alas, was snuffed out by the relentless march of Android and iOS.

 

[kyjaotkb]

"Source: Statista"
Can we have the real source? A screenshot from a company that aggregates data algorithmically without attributing it (unless you pay for their "membership") is not a very robust thought starter, in my view.

 

[blackcrayon]

It's sad to see that there are only two real* competitors.


edit:
*I don't really consider Android's Vanilla vs Samsung One vs MIUI vs ... as a true competition unlike "old times" of iOS vs Android vs Windows Phone vs webOS vs ... with all the constant one-upmanship. But I guess it comes with the maturity of the platforms plus the immense costs of keeping up both technically and adoption/app-wise.

True but it could be worse... Only "one" real competitor like Windows' dominance on the desktop before Apple got their act together around the turn of the millenium.

 

[Abazigal]

We need more competition, even if you like iOS or Android. A whole market just shared by two players is not a healthy market. The 30% commission in the app stores makes that clear.

The market has spoken. Developers aren’t willing to support a third OS.

And I look at the gaming market, where every gaming console more or less charges the standard 30%, so I am not sure what exactly competition is supposed to fix. I personally feel that Apple is justified in collecting 30% given the role its App Store has played in growing the overall pie and in facilitating transactions (leading to more people purchasing apps than they otherwise would have).

It’s a good day to be an Apple user, especially one who has chosen to embrace the Apple ecosystem in its entirety.

 

[michaelprescott]

I'd like to see more than two strong competitors, but I still like seeing Apple's steady growth. This just shows how much room they have for growth to me. Plus, their strategy of focusing on premium quality and simple intuitive UIs is ultimately a winning strategy.

 

[vipergts2207]

Hi Tim Sweeney! ?

Hi Tim Cook! ?

 

[WWPD]

I don't think Apple is as concerned with market share as much as many people seem to believe. If Apple wanted to make a real dent in Androids market share they could release a low priced phone that is more compelling than the SE. Instead of a phone that's built on the framework of a phone from 2014, build a lower speced phone that includes face ID and built on the design of the iPhone X, sell it cheap and eat the profit margin.

 

[jaceapoc]

Android and Unknown/Other both have the same color...

 

[lazyrighteye]

We need more competition, even if you like iOS or Android. A whole market just shared by two players is not a healthy market. The 30% commission in the app stores makes that clear.

I struggle to see how a 3rd party could possibly come into relevance any time soon. Needed? Yep. Gonna happen? Likely not as long the two main parties have anything to say about it.

If only we had examples of how two-party systems function from which to gain some insight.

 

[02-serious-stent]

Now do the same report in 1st world countries and report back. 🤷🏼‍♂️

These comparisons are useless. Apple isn’t even trying to complete in low income markets like Africa and South America where low cost dumb Android phones are prevalent.

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

wtf is with the big drop off on iOS at the end of 2021? Loads of people switching to Android for Christmas?

 

[lkrupp]

With the EU now mandating hardware design like USB-C ports in the name of consumer usability and environmental friendliness it’s only a matter of time until the EU mandates Android as the required mobile OS so EU consumers are no longer confused about how their devices work. One nice, homogenous mobile world in Europe.

 

[MuppetGate]

I miss Windows Phone. So many great features.

When I lost mine I was secretly pleased, oddly enough. ?

 

[Digital Dude]

… Apple quality software? ?

 

[Spock]

I miss Windows Phone. So many great features.

Back when the carriers would lock you into a two year upgrade/contract cycle, I broke my Android phone 2 months before I was eligible for an upgrade so I went and picked up some cheap $129 Nokia Windows phone just to get by. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed that OS. Unfortunately, because it was such a low-end device the hardware created severe limitations and the third party software support wasn't there and that I think is what killed it.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The market has spoken. Developers aren’t willing to support a third OS.

Exactly.

And if a platform doesn't have the apps... it will fail.

This reminds me of the computer market when I was a kid in the 80's and 90's.

Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, MS-DOS, MS Windows... there's no way a developer could support them all.

Only the strongest platforms survive. That's how we ended up today with just Mac and Windows... and iOS and Android.

People stopped buying Blackberries, Palm phones, Windows phones, and Symbian phones... and started buying iPhones and Android phones.

And developers went to where the people are.