Why Android And iOS Are The Only Smartphone Platforms That Matter

Further proof that for developers, smartphone platform choices really comes down to the two main players: in 2014, Android accounted for 81 per cent of smartphone sales, and Apple another 15 per cent.

Picture: Josh Dionne

Here’s the data from Strategy Analytics. Yes, that’s one billion Android phones sold in 2014:

Platform Unit sales 2015 (millions) Market share (%)
Android 1042.7 81.2%
iOS 192.7 15.0%
Windows Phone 38.8 3.0%
Other 9.3 0.7%

Figures from Australia suggest much the same pattern, though there’s a slightly higher proportion for “others”. As Apple’s recent figures show, having 15 per cent of the market can make for a mighty profitable business, but as an individual developer, it’s a lot harder to make money.

Strategy Analytics [via Business Insider]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


8 responses to “Why Android And iOS Are The Only Smartphone Platforms That Matter”