Android, Samsung extend smartphone lead

Google's Android mobile operating system grabbed three out of four smartphones sold in the world in the first quarter of 2013, extending its gains over Apple and its iPhone, a survey showed Tuesday. Gartner said more than 156 million Android smartphones were sold in the first three months of the year, or 74.4 percent of the global total. That compared with 56.9 percent in the same period a year ago. South Korean electronics giant Samsung, the largest maker of Android phones, boosted its lead in the marketplace with a 30.8 percent share, up from 27.6 percent a year earlier. Apple held second place with its iPhone and iOS operating system, accounting for 18.2 percent of smartphones and the same percentage for its operating system, the Gartner survey showed. "There are two clear leaders in the OS (mobile operating system) market and Android's dominance in the OS market is unshakable," said Gartner's Anshul Gupta. The survey showed the BlackBerry operating system in a distant third place with a three percent market share, just ahead of Microsoft Windows at 2.9 percent. Among manufacturers, South Korea's LG was third largest with a market share of 4.8 percent, followed by and Chinese makers Huawei (4.4 percent) and ZTE (3.8 percent). Global smartphone sales were up 43 percent from a year ago at 210 million Gartner said. The overall mobile phone market, with sales of 425 million, showed growth of just 0.7 percent amid weak sales of so-called feature phones. Samsung was the number one seller in the mobile market with a 23.6 percent market share, followed by Finland's Nokia at 14.8 percent and Apple at nine percent.