Apple's Smartphone Market Share Slipping Fast

Google's Android platform continues to establish its dominance over the growing smartphone market. And as sales of Android-based devices rise, Apple's market share is starting to decline.

According to analyst firm Gartner, in the first quarter of 2013 Android smartphones accounted for 74.4 per cent of global sales. That means more than 150 million devices are now running the mobile operating system (OS).

It also means that Android's share of the smartphone market has skyrocketed approximately 20 per cent since last year. (Source: zdnet.com)

Android Up, Apple Down

Facing a reverse trend is Apple, which saw its share of the smartphone market reduced from 22.5 per cent in first quarter 2012 to just 18.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2013. Gartner says Apple sold about 38 million iPhone devices during 2013's first quarter.

Also facing a troubling decline: BlackBerry (formerly known as Research in Motion). The Waterloo, Canada-based firm -- which has faced intense scrutiny and has undergone massive restructuring in the past year -- saw its market share drop from just under 7 per cent to only 3 per cent.

Overall, BlackBerry shipped just 6.2 million devices in the first quarter of 2013 -- compare that to the roughly 10 million handhsets it sold in the first quarter of 2012.

Windows Phone's Market Share Slowly Growing

Finally, things are looking up for Microsoft, which saw Windows Phone's share of the smartphone market expand to roughly 3 per cent. The platform is now poised to surpass the sliding BlackBerry.

As for the top manufacturers, Gartner found that Samsung easily outsold its competitors, establishing itself as the top vendor when it comes to both smartphones and feature phones. Nokia, Apple, LG and ZTE rounded out the top five.

All in all, it was another solid quarter for the smartphone market.

"Worldwide smartphone sales totaled 210 million units in the first quarter of 2013, up 42.9 percent from the first quarter of 2012," Gartner noted in its report. (Source: techhive.com)