More than 9 out of 10 smartphones in South Korea ran on Google Inc.’s Android platform, data showed Tuesday. Around 93 percent of smartphones in the country were powered by the Android platform, far above the 5.1 percent for Apple Inc.’s iOS, the data by market researcher Strategy Analytics showed.
Market shares for the Blackberry OS and Microsoft Corp.’s Window Phone OS stood at 0.1 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively, in the country, with Nokia Corp.’s Symbian rarely used.
Market watchers point to the country’s two major technology firms, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., as well as the smaller Pantech Co. focusing on Android-powered smartphones.
Android accounted for 67.5 percent of the global market last year, with South Korea the only country with a figure above the 90 percent mark. Apple’s average market share came to 15.7 percent. Apple’s iOS posted its highest market share in the United States at 36.8 percent, which was still below the 56 percent posted by its rival Android, followed by Singapore (35.4 percent) and Australia (34.9 percent). (Yonhap News)
