Android market share dips from 85% to 84% in the third quarter

Google's reign over the smartphone landscape seems to be have hit the saturation point when it comes to its operating system, Android. 84% of the smartphones shipped globally in Q3 2014 were running on an Android version, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. This looks like a slight slip-off from the 85% it had touched earlier in Q2. The slip, say the experts, could be taken to indicate the fact that the mobile OS has already hit its maximum market share.

'Android's global smartphone market share is peaking,' said Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics. 'Unless there is an unlikely collapse in rival Apple iPhone volumes in the future, Android is probably never going to go much above the 85% global market share ceiling.'

The market share for Apple owned iOS, on the other hand, has held on steadily at 12% in the third quarter as well. There were two other players contending for the remaining 4% share- Microsoft 's Windows Phone which captured 3% market share and BlackBerry Ltd. 's devices which got 1%.

Inspite of the fact that Android market share has received a small setback, it is still good news for Google. The top reason being the fact that the overall market is growing. Strategy Analytics forecasts 12% growth in smartphone shipments in 2015.

The report released by Strategy Analytics mentions, ' The only thing that could cause any sort of rebound in this trend would be an unlikely catastrophic demise of Apple, the main competitor of Google in the mobile operating system market.'

'Google does not need an increased market share to further enforce its dominance in the industry. Strategy believes that the market for smartphones is still growing, projecting a twelve percent growth in shipment volume for the coming year. Google has also chosen to allow third party development of pseudo-Android systems that could find their way on to lower end devices around the world,' said the report.