Google’s Android mobile operating system surged past Apple’s iPhone and Canada’s Blackberry in the third quarter to become the second biggest smartphone platform after Nokia’s Symbian, research firm Gartner said Wednesday.
Gartner said Finland’s Nokia sold 29.5 million smartphones during the third quarter of the year for a 36.6 per cent share of the worldwide market, down from 44.6 per cent a year ago.
Sales of Android-powered smartphones soared to 20.5 million units, giving the Android platform a 25.5 per cent market share, up from just 3.5 per cent a year ago, Gartner said.
Apple’s iPhone was next on sales of 13.5 million units for a 16.7 per cent market share, down from 17.1 per cent a year ago.