It’s official: Android smartphones are dominating the overall smartphone market. Researchers from Gartner report that Android phones represented 56 percent of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of this year, while Apple’s iPhone was next in line with only 22.9 percent of the market. And, if you’ve been underestimating Samsung’s force in the mobile phone market consider some key data about its leadership in the market for Android phones.
“Samsung became the world’s top mobile handset vendor during the quarter, displacing Nokia which had held the No. 1 spot since 1998. Samsung’s mobile phone sales reached 86.6 million units, a 25.9 percent increase from last year. Samsung took back the world’s No. 1 smartphone position from Apple, selling 38 million smartphones worldwide. In addition, Samsung’s Android-based smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2012 represented more than 40 percent of Android-based smartphone sales worldwide; no other vendors achieved more than a 10 percent share of the market.”
Wow, Android only began to gain momentum in 2009, and since then, HTC and Motorola built significant brand strategies around the open source mobile OS, but it’s very clear that Samsung has the biggest lock on the Android phone market. However, there may be some reversion to the mean for Samsung ahead, especially since Gartner researchers warn that all phones, including Android-based models, are becoming commoditized and similar:
