A recent article by Joe Myers published on World Economic Forum in April, 2017 revealed that Android is the most popular operating system. The article revealed that 71.5% of the mobile market operating system was controlled by Android. Overall, when desktop and mobile phone users are not segregated, Android controlled 37.93% with Windows in 2nd position with 37.91%.
So what is the magic behind Android's remarkable rise when we consider that it controlled a paltry 2.4% or less 5 years ago?
Here is what gave Android the lead according to the aforementioned article. The rising number of people using smartphones is responsible. Ownership of smartphones have surged from 1.50 billion users worldwide in 2014 to 2.32 billion in 2017 (Statistica 2017).
Another reason in my on opinion is the number of devices that run on Android. For instance, Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, Gionee, Tecno, Infinix, and many others run on Android operating system. Compare with say IOS which runs on IPhone only.
So on what device are you reading this article?
Write good
I know you are quoting another source, but you didn't dig very deep into the statistics that you are citing. If you were to further break those stats down into the tiers of each device you would know that the meteoric rise in Android devices is directly related to the fact that as an unlicensed, open source OS it is available for use with full functionality of the majority of applications to low level and mid level device manufacturers, if the hardware is compatible. Contrasting this to iOS which is proprietary and not able to be used on any other hardware than apple devices.
Expanding on that to include geographic statistics you would find that the majority of new Android users are coming from emerging markets where a smartphone on par with a Galaxy or iphone would be considered an extravagant luxury. Some in those markets such as China and India have to sacrifice as much as a years income to be able to afford the latest Apple device.
I have been using Android flagship devices since I left the blackberry platform around 2009. I have tried iOS, but I think it's really an overpriced device.
Thanks for the feedback. And it's quite true that the iOS is overpriced. The only time I bought an iOS was 2 years ago when the iPhone 6 was launched. Anyway, I didn't buy it for my use but my wife's. And anyone buying a smartphone in emerging market, it would be an Android powered device 8 out of 10 due to the affordability given that income level is low in those jurisdictions.
Cheers.