The latest numbers from research firm Gartner reveal that the smartphone industry continues to be largely a two-horse race between iOS and Android. The two mobile operating systems combined for 98.4 percent worldwide market share in the fourth calendar quarter of 2015, compared to 96.4 percent in the year-ago quarter.
Android remained the world's most widely used smartphone operating system with 80.7 percent market share, while iOS recorded 17.7 percent market share. The fourth quarter has historically been the most successful for iPhone and Android-based smartphone sales due to the holiday shopping season.
Apple and Samsung shipped a collective 551.2 million smartphones in 2015, trailed by Huawei, Lenovo-Motorola, and Xiaomi with 107.1 million, 73.9 million, and 72 million shipments respectively, according to recent Strategy Analytics data. Global smartphone shipments totaled a record 1.44 billion in 2015.
Windows Phone was perhaps the closest platform to being a true third place competitor, but its market share has dwindled as iOS and Android continue to grow. Samsung and Mozilla also have Linux-based mobile operating systems in Tizen and Firefox OS respectively, but adoption of each platform is comparatively slim.
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why.
In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup.
If you skipped the iPhone...
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro.
The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence.
The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles.
iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by Juli Clover
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look.
Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March.
As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta.
Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device.
The revised beta addresses an...
Not sure what those entities have to do with this thread.
You said consumers should care about profits, and I'm guessing when your electric bill, gas bill, cell bill, interest rate etc goes up, you aren't cheering the companies on because they are making a good profit.
iOS and Android Capture Combined 98.4% Share of Smartphone Market
Interesting language in the title.
Really, it should read something like "Apple secures just 17.7% of market, down from 20.4%" or "Apple's smartphone market share declines to 17.7%". But by lumping Apple in with Android, MacRumors are trying to make it all sound positive for Apple.
Microsoft could use the same logic by saying "iOS, Android and Windows Phone capture combined 99.5% share of smartphone market"
No mention of the fact that Windows is at 87%. No mention of the fact that various Linuxes and Unixes make up another 2% or so.
But when we talk about iOS, it's important to talk about the market share that everyone else has, and the fact that iOS + Android make up 98% of the market, even though nearly identical statements could be said about OS X and Windows. [doublepost=1455811689][/doublepost] That's because Microsoft has thrown in the towel. They're now putting their services on Android and iOS devices.
Although I feel that the move was premature. I feel like they could really use laptops running Windows 10 to sell Surface products, which could then be used to sell Windows 10 Phones.
My view is that Microsoft really screwed up and had a great chance to come up with a third alternative system that would have had great leverage in taking advantage of Windows 10. Instead, they are short sighted and only playing with others.
