If you just turned five and cornered three-fourths of your market, it must indeed be a happy birthday.
Such would be the case for Android, Google's operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, tech site PC World reported.
"Android continues to blow away expectations. To wit: Android was found on three out of every four smartphones shipped during the third quarter of this year, according to market research firm IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker," it said.
Android is now on version 4.2, or “Jelly Bean,” which debuted on the new Nexus 4 phone and the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets.
Google's OS was born five years ago on Nov. 5, when the then newly-formed Open Handset Alliance announced the Linux-based mobile platform.
Citing IDC figures, Android accounted for 75 percent of smartphones shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2012, PC World said.
This meant that of some 181.1 million smartphones shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2012, 136 million units were Android devices.
PC World also cited IDC figures showing that while the overall market's year-over-year growth rate is 46.4 percent, Android's is nearly double at 91.5 percent.
Ramon Llamas, research manager for mobile phones at IDC, said Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since its launch.
Since then, he said Android has "effectively outpaced the market and taken market share from the competition,” he added.
In contrast, PC World said Apple's iOS was a distant second place, while Microsoft's Windows Phone had just 3.6 million units shipped worldwide. — TJD, GMA News
