Got an iPhone? You’re in the minority.

There were four Android phones for every iPhone shipped in the second quarter, research firm IDC said Wednesday. That’s up from a ratio of 2.5 to 1 in the same period last year.

The success of Samsung’s Android phones helped Google’s operating system extend its dominance in the smartphone market.
Samsung Electronics Co. and other phone makers shipped nearly 105 million Android smartphones in the April-June quarter, giving Android 68 percent of the worldwide market, up from 47 percent last year.

The gains came largely at the expense of BlackBerry phones made by Research in Motion Ltd. and Symbian phones made largely by Nokia Corp. Each saw its market share drop below 5 percent. Nokia is now making phones that use Microsoft Corp.’s Windows system.

The market share for Apple Inc.’s iPhone, powered by its iOS software, fell slightly to 17 percent, from 19 percent. But the company shipped more iPhones than a year ago. Apple is the No. 2 smartphone maker, behind Samsung, and is likely to get a boost when it releases its new iPhone model as expected this fall.

Samsung’s Galaxy S III phone received good reviews when it was released late in the second quarter. It also benefits from the company’s strategy of making various devices that target a range of consumers. By contrast, Apple targets only the high-end market with its iPhone.

According to IDC, Samsung accounted for 44 percent of all Android phones in the second quarter and shipped more Android phones than the next seven Android phone makers combined. HTC Corp. and Motorola Mobility, which Google now owns, are among the other Android makers.

IDC estimates that Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones in the quarter, though that includes a few million phones running the Bada system based on Linux. Apple shipped 26 million iPhones.

Worldwide smartphone shipments grew 42 percent to 154 million in the second quarter. Combined, Android and Apple had 85 percent of the market, up from 66 percent a year ago.

“The mobile OS market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS,” said Kevin Restivo, a senior research analyst at IDC.

But it’s still possible for rivals to gain share since smartphones represent fewer than 40 percent of all cellphones shipped in the quarter.

But, Restivo said in a statement “such efforts will become increasingly difficult as smartphone penetration increases.”

IDC’s Operating System Highlights

Commentary provided by IDC:

  • “Android’s success in the market can be traced directly to Samsung, which accounted for 44.0% of all Android smartphones shipped in 2Q12 and totaled more than the next seven Android vendors’ volumes combined. Meanwhile, the next seven vendors were a mix of companies re-establishing their strategies or growing volumes within key markets. Also not to be overlooked was the growing relevance of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with the release of numerous models worldwide.
  • “iOS posted double-digit growth, but not enough to keep up with the overall market. Demand for Apple’s flagship smartphone has cooled off now that the device has been available since October, and the rumors around the blogosphere have fueled speculation about a new design and features. Despite these trends, iOS remained the solid number two operating system behind Android worldwide, and greater than the total number of smartphones on the remaining platforms.
  • “BlackBerry, one of the pioneers and former leaders in the worldwide smartphone market, reached share levels not seen since the first quarter of 2009. BlackBerry has lost significant share to other operating systems in the consumer and enterprise segments. Now that RIM has delayed the release of new BlackBerry 10 smartphones out to 2013, BlackBerry remains vulnerable to the competition.
  • “Symbian, for years the world’s most shipped OS, sunk to a new nadir last quarter. The 62.9% drop registered was its sharpest year-over-year drop ever. The decline of Symbian, precipitated by Nokia’s decision to make Windows Phone its primary smartphone OS, has accelerated due to lower sales in key economically developing geographies such as China as well as Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa.
  • “Windows Phone 7/ Windows Mobile narrowed the gap between itself and BlackBerry last quarter in its bid to become the number 3 mobile OS in terms of market share. The share gains it made last quarter are due mostly to Nokia, which almost doubled its Lumia/Windows Phone shipments sequentially. Though it’s closing in on the third spot, Windows Phone is still a distant competitor to Android and iOS. Microsoft will need to generate additional momentum from Windows Phone 8 devices, which will be introduced this fall, if it is to narrow the share gap further between itself and the three mobile OS leaders.
  • “Linux, a category largely comprised of Samsung’s Bada shipments, declined on a year-over year basis as Samsung’s smartphone sales are increasingly Android centric. In addition, Linux OS dependent vendors such as Panasonic are also migrating to Android, which contributed to the year-over-year decline.
  • “Microsoft and RIM are both coming out with new versions of their operating systems – Windows in October and BlackBerry early next year. The share of Windows phone grew to 3.5 percent, from 2.3 percent, in the latest quarter, largely because of its adoption by Nokia. Windows was the fifth-largest phone operating system but was gaining on No. 3 BlackBerry and No. 4 Symbian.”

The Statistics

Here are IDC’s figures for worldwide smartphone unit sales and market share in the second quarter of 2012, by operating system:

  • Android (Google Inc.) – 104.8 million units, 68.1 percent share (46.9 percent a year earlier)
  • iOS (Apple Inc.’s iPhone) – 26.0 million units, 16.9 percent share (18.8 percent a year earlier)
  • BlackBerry (Research in Motion Ltd.) – 7.4 million units, 4.8 percent share (11.5 percent a year earlier)
  • Symbian (mostly used by Nokia Corp.) – 6.8 million units, 4.4 percent share (16.9 percent a year earlier)
  • Windows (Microsoft Corp.) – 5.4 million units, 3.5 percent share (2.3 percent a year earlier)
  • Linux – 3.5 million units, 2.3 percent share (3.0 percent a year earlier)
  • Others – 0.1 million units, 0.1 percent share (0.5 percent a year earlier)