1.2. Android—The World’s Leading Mobile Operating System
Android device sales are growing quickly, creating enormous opportunities for Android app developers.
• The first-generation Android phones were released in October 2008. By October 2013, a Strategy Analytics report showed that Android had 81.3% of the global smartphone market share, compared to 13.4% for Apple, 4.1% for Microsoft and 1% for Blackberry.1
1. http://blogs.strategyanalytics.com/WSS/post/2013/10/31/Android-Captures-Record-81-Percent-Share-of-Global-Smartphone-Shipments-in-Q3-2013.aspx.
• According to an IDC report, by the end of the first quarter of 2013 Android had 56.5% of the global tablet market share, compared to 39.6% for Apple’s iPad and 3.7% for Microsoft Windows tablets.2
2. http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24093213.
• As of April 2013, more than 1.5 million Android devices (including smartphones, tablets, etc.) were being activated daily.3
3. http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/04/16/google-daily-android-activations-1-5-million.
• At the time of this writing, there were over one billion activated Android devices.4
4. http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/03/android-hits-1b-activations-and-will-be-called-kitkat-in-next-version.
• Android devices now include smartphones, tablets, e-readers, robots, jet engines, NASA satellites, game consoles, refrigerators, televisions, cameras, health-care devices, smartwatches, automobile in-vehicle “infotainment” systems (for controlling the radio, GPS, phone calls, thermostat, etc.) and more.5
5. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-29/behind-the-internet-of-things-is-android-and-its-everywhere.