Google’s Android surpasses iPhone in global sales
Google’s Android operating system for smartphones has leapt ahead of Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry in global, according to research group Gartner.
They show that the Android format has leapt from a 1.8% market share a year ago to 17.2% today, sufficient to see it supercede the Blackberry although the iPhone remains market leader.
Analysts have been surprised by the speed of Android’s success sales of which have been buoyed by being free for anyone to adopt.
The iPhone by contrast is subject to constrained growth rates owing to its availability only from Apple and a limited number of mobile operators.
Some analysts believe this could mark a significant turn around in fortunes for Apple which has gone from underdog to top dog in recent years and is now finding itself subject to the criticism and scrutiny which comes with that territory.