Strategy Analytics has released a report on smartphone sales for 2014, and while Apple’s iOS platform had a really good year, Google’s Android did even better. Globally, manufacturers shipped 1.28 billion devices in 2014, and more than 1 billion of those were Android phones. Android captured 81 percent of the worldwide market, while Apple had 15 percent. Microsoft continues to have about 3 percent market share, about the same as last year.
“Apple iOS remains [Android’s] only serious threat for now,” said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. “Apple iOS shipped 192.7 million smartphones worldwide in 2014, capturing 15 percent share. The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models have recently re-energized Apple’s growth and their bigger-screen designs have swiftly gained traction among wealthy consumers.”