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iOS market share balloons in October, Android climbs to No. 2 mobile OS

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:34PM EST
BGR

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Propelled by the popularity of its iPad tablet and the successful launch of the latest iPhone, Apple’s share of the mobile operating system market jumped significantly in October. Apple’s iOS saw just 1.6% growth between August and September of this year according to Net Applications, as iPhone sales slowed in anticipation of a new model in October. That new model, the iPhone 4S, sold more than 4 million units during its opening weekend alone, causing Apple’s cell phone and tablet operating system share to balloon to 61.64% of the global market in October, up 7% from 54.65% in September. Read on for more.

Apple’s iOS wasn’t the only platform to see impressive growth in October. According to Net Applications, Google’s Android platform overtook Java ME by a huge margin to take the No. 2 spot globally. Android’s market share grew from 16.26% in September to 18.90% in October while Java ME dropped from 18.52% to 12.84% over the same period.

Net Applications’ October data also shows that the Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone platforms lost share in October. Symbian dipped to 3.48% from 6.12%, RIM’s BlackBerry OS slid to 2.48% from 3.29% and Microsoft’s mobile share dropped to 0.20% from 0.27% in September.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.