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

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.

market dominance of smartphone operating systems
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.

Popular Stories

Mayday Calendar

Apple Acquisition Hints at Upgraded Calendar App on iOS 19 or Beyond

Friday May 9, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple acquired Canadian startup Mayday Labs in April 2024, according to a European Commission listing, spotted by French blog MacGeneration. The acquisition had not received widespread attention from tech publications until now. Apple is legally required to report certain acquisitions to the European Commission, under the terms of the EU's Digital Markets Act. Mayday Labs founder Jeremy...
Nineth iOS 19 Feature

iOS 19 Beta is a Month Away With These New Features for Your iPhone

Thursday May 8, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is just one month away, and there are already many new features and changes that are expected with it. Apple should seed the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors...
fortnite apple featured

Epic Games Submits Fortnite to U.S. App Store

Friday May 9, 2025 9:57 am PDT by
As promised, Epic Games today submitted Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and if approved by Apple, it will mark the first time that the Fortnite app has been available in the United States since 2020. Fortnite will include options to purchase in-app currency from the web rather than through in-app purchase, which is what got the game banned to begin with. This time, though, Apple has been...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full iOS 18.5 Release Notes

Tuesday May 6, 2025 2:17 pm PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate version of iOS 18.5 to developers and public beta testers, giving us a look at the final version of the update that will be provided to the public next week. With the release candidate, Apple provided release notes, so we have a more complete look at the new features that are included in the update, including those that weren't found during the beta...
top stories 2025 05 10

Top Stories: iOS 18.5 Release Imminent, iPhone Rumors for 2025 and Beyond, and More

Saturday May 10, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
With Apple's developer conference where it will show off iOS 19 just a month away, the company is wrapping up work on iOS 18.5 ahead of an imminent release to deliver a few new features and updates. This week also saw a number of iPhone-related rumors, encompassing not only this year's iPhone 17 lineup but also Apple's plans for 2026 and 2027, even as Apple's Eddy Cue suggested AI could make ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Apple's Foldable iPhone Display Tech May Set New Industry Standard

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:29 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will feature a new type of display panel developed by Samsung that has never been used in a foldable product, claims a source with links to Apple's supply chain. According to the account yeux1122 on the Korean Naver blog, the foldable iPhone will use a custom display process for which Apple will hold branding trademark rights, and that meets Apple's stringent ...

Top Rated Comments

Abazigal Avatar
40 months ago
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. [emoji4]
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unggoy Murderer Avatar
40 months ago

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! ?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alphaswift Avatar
40 months ago
I miss Windows Phone. So many great features.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
System603 Avatar
40 months ago
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.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lazyrighteye Avatar
40 months ago

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.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
40 months ago

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!!


Turn into a service company? Easy to say, as this isn't your dime.

They should develop products people want to use and the government should stay out of what ports and sideloading. Let prople vote with their dollars, which apparently they are. The governments do not get that a product can actually be popular.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)