IDC has released its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, May 2013 report, showcasing some pretty major developments in the space for mobile and OS manufacturers over the course of the year, such as Windows Phone replacing BlackBerry at the number three spot, and Apple losing market share despite selling a record volume of iPhone handsets in the first quarter.
According to the market research firm, Android and iOS made up for 92.3% of all smartphone shipments in Q1 2013, with roughly 199.5 million devices shipped, up 59.1% from 125.4 million units shipped in Q1 2012. Android devices make up 75% of the global smartphone market in Q1 2013, whilst iOS devices make up 17.3%. Samsung made up for 41.1% of all Android devices shipped in the quarter, with all other vendors only managing single digit figures.
Windows Phone, now in third place, occupies 3.2% of the market, up from 2.0% in Q1 2012, whilst BlackBerry fell from 6.4% in Q1 2012 to 2.9% in Q1 2013. About a million BB10 devices were shipped in the first quarter of this year, making for a strong showing for the debuting platform (essentially, just the Z10), though obviously, BB7 devices made up the majority of the volume shipped.
Interestingly, Nokia’s Lumia devices made up 79% of all Windows Phone shipments (20.3 million devices), major drivers for the platform. Linux, in fourth place behind BlackBerry, has a 2.1% share of the market, down from 2.4% last year. Symbian, which has fallen to sixth place, has experienced the biggest drop in the same period, from 6.8% to 0.6%. IDC expects Symbian shipments to continue till 2014, with swiftly dropping volumes.
It will be interesting to see how the smartphone OS market figures change once the numerous new contenders enter the market, such as Firefox OS, Tizen 2.0, Ubuntu Mobile OS, and Sailfish. Windows Phone’s strong showing is a good vindication from the Microsoft-Nokia partnership, but to really challenge BlackBerry as the primary alternative to Android and iOS, the platform will have to boost numbers.
Top Five Smartphone Operating Systems, Shipments, and Market Share, 1Q 2013 (Units in Millions)
| Operating System | 1Q13 Shipment Volume | 1Q13 Market Share | 1Q12 Shipment Volume | 1Q12 Market Share | Year over Year Change |
| Android | 162.1 | 75.0% | 90.3 | 59.1% | 79.5% |
| iOS | 37.4 | 17.3% | 35.1 | 23.0% | 6.6% |
| Windows Phone | 7.0 | 3.2% | 3.0 | 2.0% | 133.3% |
| BlackBerry OS | 6.3 | 2.9% | 9.7 | 6.4% | -35.1% |
| Linux | 2.1 | 1.0% | 3.6 | 2.4% | -41.7% |
| Symbian | 1.2 | 0.6% | 10.4 | 6.8% | -88.5% |
| Others | 0.1 | 0.0% | 0.6 | 0.4% | -83.3% |
| Total | 216.2 | 100.0% | 152.7 | 100.0% | 41.6% |