Android achieves majority share of the smart phone market

Google’s Android OS has taken over Apple as the UK’s most popular smart phone platform with a 28 percent slice of the market.

Several manufactures have taken advantage of Mountain View’s operating system in recent years, including HTC, Motorola, LG and Sony Ericsson, making it soon before consumers followed.

The survey, conducted by YouGov for Intelligent Environments, talked to 2,001 people and reported that 28 per cent of smart phone users use Android, 26 per cent use Apple’s iOS and 14 per cent use Blackberry’s native OS.

Smaller shares of the market were taken by Microsoft’s Windows Phone (5 per cent) and Nokia’s Symbian platform (6 per cent). It is also worth noting that Microsoft’s market share has been anticipated to increase next year as Nokia start using Windows for its smart phones

Interesting trends were also discovered during the course of the survey. Blackberry users were found to use apps the least, with 23 per cent not even using them. iPhone’s customers used their phones the most, with 18 per cent spending four or more hours on their device.

Android users seemed to be fashionable with the young and old, with 34 per cent in the 25 to 34 age range and 25 per cent of retired interviewees using the OS.

The director of Mobile at Intelligent Environments, James Richards, commented on the findings: “The top three mobile platforms in the UK certainly seem to attract different personalities.”

“It’s fair to say that iPhone and BlackBerry have strong identities, but given that Android is on a number of handsets, we are clearly seeing more of a mixed user base. Perhaps we will see the telecoms industry of the future tailoring their apps and services further to suit the variety of demands being placed on the mobile.”