New data reported by MobileSyrup sees Google’s Android OS reaching a 52.5% share of the smartphone market in 3Q11. This doubles that same share only a year ago.
Only about 1.5% of the difference came at the expense of iOS products. Taking into account Apple being between releases during this period, the slight drop should be seen as a fairly strong showing.
Most of Android’s gains were propelled by a twenty point drop among Symbian devices, spurred in part by Nokia’s efforts to move away from the sputtering OS coupled with a broader decline in Nokia device share.
As Symbian fizzles, many expect Android to suck up the brunt their remaining 17% of the market. Although Nokia has committed to the Windows Phone platform for upcoming releases, the manufacturer will likely be forced to enter the Android market as uptake for Microsoft’s OS goes from lacking to unsustainable.
On the device share side, year-over-year numbers saw Nokia, LG, and RIM (especially considering the barrage of new BB devices released in 3Q11) underperform, while Apple, HTC, and Chinese newcomer ZTE showed steady growth.
Samsung, despite a modest gain in share and units shipped, saw their actual smartphone sales triple to 24 million units, easily outselling Apple’s 17 million. With the recent release of the iPhone 4S and a slew of new HTC and Nokia devices, however, Samsung (now the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer) can expect more competition in 4Q11.
