Android smartphones dominate, Windows gains: survey

Google's Android platform was used on four out of five smartphones sold worldwide in the third quarter, while Microsoft's Windows Phone showed strong gains, said a survey out Tuesday.

Android's market share rose to 81 percent, extending its lead over Apple's iOS, used on its iPhones, according to the IDC survey. Android's share a year ago was 74.9 percent.

Even though iPhone sales grew 25.6 percent from a year earlier, the growth was slower than the overall market and Apple's share fell to 12.9 percent from 14.4 percent in the same period last year.

Windows Phone emerged as the number three smartphone platform with a market share of 3.6 percent, up from two percent a year earlier.

Windows Phone sales grew 156 percent, with more than 90 percent made by Nokia, the Finnish group whose handset division is set to be acquired by Microsoft.

BlackBerry, meanwhile, saw its troubles deepen, as its market share fell to 1.7 percent from 4.1 percent a year ago. BlackBerry sales fell 41.6 percent from a year ago despite the introduction of the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

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