We've already seen IDC's numbers on tablet market share for Q2 2012, but now it's time to see how they judge the performance of smartphone OSes. It comes shortly after the Canalys' take on the situation and there are no surprises, just a better look at what's going on.
Android and iOS combined are squeezing the alternative OSes into an ever tighter corner. Together, they hold 85% of the smartphone market, a new high. The former leaders - Symbian, BlackBerry and Microsoft have all slipped under the 5% mark.
Android is by far the most popular smartphone OS - shipments doubled quarter on quarter and the OS now holds two thirds of the market. IDC reports Samsung is the leader of the droid pack, 44% of all Androids shipped in Q2 of this year carried the logo of the South Korean company. That's more phones than those of the next 7 Android vendors combined. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich grew in relevance and was a major driver in Android's growth.
Market share of iOS declined compared to last year's second quarter, but it's the number two OS. Alone, it has more market share than all remaining OSes combined. Of course, the quarter wasnt very strong for Apple (actually, it was still good, it's just that Apple standards are so high) as the iPhone 4S has aged and demand for it has declined and everyone is looking forward to the new iPhone. Event at number 2, Apple and iOS snatched 77% of the profits in Q2.
Top Smartphone Operating Systems, Shipments, and Market Share, Q2 2012
(Units in Millions)
| Operating System | Q2 shipments | Q2 market share | Q1 shipments | Q1 market share | QoQ shipments growth |
| Android | 104.8 | 68.1% | 50.8 | 46.9% | 106.5% |
| iOS | 26.0 | 16.9% | 20.4 | 18.8% | 27.5% |
| BlackBerry OS | 7.4 | 4.8% | 12.5 | 11.5% | -40.9% |
| Symbian | 6.8 | 4.4% | 18.3 | 16.9% | -62.9% |
| Windows Phone 7 / Windows | 5.4 | 3.5% | 2.5 | 2.3% | 115.3% |
| Linux | 3.5 | 2.3% | 3.3 | 3.0% | 6.3% |
| Others | 0.1 | 0.1% | 0.6 | 0.5% | -80.0% |
| Grand Total | 154.0 | 100.0% | 108.3 | 100.0% | 42.2% |
BlackBerry managed a distant third place, with decrease in sales to both enterprise users and consumers. RIM's shares have fallen to early 2009 levels, but BlackBerry 10, which is the company's big hope, was recently delayed so its prospects for the rest of the year are pretty bad.
Symbian was the leading smartphone OS for many years, but is currently in fourth place. Poor sales and Nokia's decision to jump to the next OS on the list led to a huge 62.9% drop in shipments of Symbian smartphones.
Windows Phone 7 still gets listed alongside with Windows Mobile. Even so, Microsoft only has a 3.5% chunk of the market share. The good news is there was a healthy 115.3% jump in shipments, mostly coming from Nokia, so they are moving in the right direction. All eyes are on the upcoming Windows Phone 8 now.
Curiously, "Linux" isn't far behind with a 2.3% market share. It turns out this category is mostly populated by phones running Samsung's bada OS. The market share declined compared to last year, as Samsung and other Linux phone makers focused on Android.
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