14 DAY TRIAL // Google's Android mobile platform reaffirmed its status as the number one mobile platform, which was confirmed since Q4 2010 when it toppled Nokia's Symbian for the first time.
A recent Canalys survey shows that Android led in 35 of the 56 countries that the company tracks around the world, and achieved a global market share of 48%.
As shown in the survey, Asia Pacific retained its status as the largest regional market with 39.8 million units shipped, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) came in second with 35.0 million units, followed closely by the Americas with 32.9 million units.
It appears that the market grew globally 73% year-on-year, with in excess of 107.7 million units shipping in the second quarter of 2011.
Canalys' numbers show that Android also had the strongest growth this quarter, with Android-based smartphone shipments up 379% over a year ago to 51.9 million units.
The main reason behind Android's growth was the strong Android product performances from multiple handset manufacturers, such as Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, ZTE and Huawei.
Among the countries were Android devices registered strong performances include South Korea, with 85% platform share, and Taiwan with 71%.
Furthermore, it looks like Apple's iOS platform overtook Nokia's Symbian second place, as the company now has a market share of 19%, thanks to the 20.3 million iPhones shipped.
Although iOS is listed as world's second largest smartphone platform, Apple has become the world's leading individual smartphone vendor, thus taking Nokia's long-held leading position.
“The iPhone has been a phenomenal success story for Apple and a watershed product for the market. It's an impressive success story, given that Apple has only been in the smart phone market for four years. With the next-generation iPhone anticipated in Q3, it's likely that Apple's position will grow even stronger in the second half of the year,” said Canalys VP and Principal Analyst Chris Jones.
It is also worth mentioning that Samsung switched places with Nokia, and is now the second individual smartphone manufacturer, mostly because of its flagship Galaxy S II product performing extremely well.