If like Jamie, you deny the popularity of supersized phablets, then the latest figures from IDC are likely to come as a shock to you — with the large screen devices taking up around 21% of the 261.1 million smartphones shipped in Q3 of 2013. When we say “large screen devices” we mean devices with a larger than five inch screen, like the LG G2 or the Galaxy Note 3.
Of course it’s not just phablets making inroads in the mobile phone market, with Windows Phone continuing to grow, whilst BlackBerry continues its downward spiral to less than 2% of the smartphone market. It wasn’t just Windows Phone that reported growth, although it grew three times the amount of any other operating system at 156%, but Android and iOS also saw its shipments grow.
Android saw its stranglehold on the market increase, with 81% of the smartphone market wrapped up and over 211 million devices shipped, whilst iOS saw its shrink — despite an overall growth in the number of devices shipped to 33.8 million, although it dropped 2% in overall marketshare.
Over the next quarter we are bound to see even more changes when it comes to the smartphone operating system league tables, with BlackBerry likely continuing to crumble, whilst Windows Phone takes its opportunity for expodential growth. With new apps such as Instagram and Vine arriving on Windows Phone, and large screen devices such as the Lumia 1520 and 1320 coming from Nokia, we’ll no doubt see Microsoft cross the 5% threshold very soon.