Android dominating global mobile devices after 270% increase in two years
Android is dominating the mobile operating system market with the latest GlobalWebIndex (GWI) figures showing that 65 per cent of the global mobile internet population now uses Android – significantly more than Apple’s iOS system at 20 per cent.
Report: Android is dominating the market
The figures, which represent Q4 2013, show a 270 per cent increase in Android use since the end of 2011, with South Korea (81 per cent), China and Malaysia (both 75 per cent) showing the biggest uptake. In contrast, while iOS now accounts for only a fifth of global mobile internet users, the operating system recorded a higher than average market share in the US (42 per cent), Australia (40 per cent) and Canada (37 per cent).
Android also came out on top in tablet operating systems at 53 per cent compared to iOS’s 40 per cent. Furthermore, results for tablet users showed that device sharing was popular with more than half (54 per cent) of respondents saying they shared devices with at least one other person. The number sharing on mobile was much lower, but still accounted for nearly quarter of respondents (23 per cent).
Jason Mander, head of trends at GlobalWebIndex, said: “It’s clear that device sharing is a major phenomenon, something which has big implications for how we understand the total number of people using the internet.
“This is especially common for tablets but it’s also happening with mobiles, devices which are usually considered to be the most ‘personal’.”
Samsung was found to be the most popular handset with 36 per cent global penetration, ahead of Nokia at 22 per cent and the iPhone at 19 per cent.
Meanwhile, 56 per cent of mobile internet users said they were concerned about erosion of privacy. More than a quarter of people (28 per cent) admitted to using virtual private networks (VPNs) or proxy servers online, but more than half of those people said they did it to access better entertainment content.
Mander added: “We were also struck by just how many people are using VPNs to go online. Some are doing this to hide their identity and stay anonymous, but many are simply looking for top-quality entertainment: we don’t want to miss the latest shows just because we don’t live in the country where they’re broadcast.”
The report surveyed 170,000 people across 32 markets, representing 89 per cent of the global internet population.