IDC: Android reaches 80% of smartphone market in Q2 due to low-cost offerings, iOS falls to 13%

Following a report last week from IDC on smartphone market share by vendor, the research firm is out today with its report covering market share by operating system. Much like Apple’s growth had slowed on the hardware front with its second-lowest year-over-year growth rate for the iPhone in nearly four years, IDC reports that Apple is losing share to Android and Windows Phone when looking at the market by operating system.

During Q2 2013, IDC says that Apple posted a year-over-year decline dropping from 16.6% with 26 million iPhones shipped in Q2 of last year, to 13.2% of the market with 31.2 million iPhones shipped in Q1 of this year. The loss in market share is of course attributed to the lack of new product launches during the three month period, as was the case with IDC’s report on tablet market share earlier this week. But it’s also losing ground to both Android and Windows Phone, both of which increased market share and shipments year-over-year during Q2:

Android maintained its leadership position, with strong contributions from Samsung and its Galaxy S4. Not to be overlooked were LG and Chinese vendors Huawei, Lenovo, and ZTE, which each recorded double-digit shipment volumes in the millions. Combined, these vendors accounted for 62.5% of all Android-powered smartphone shipments during the quarter. Still, the remaining vendors within the Android ecosystem should not be overlooked, as many have developed a strong local presence within key developing markets.

The total of 236.4 million smartphones shipped during the quarter– an increase of 51.3% over last year– is mostly thanks to growth from Android (now at almost 80% of the market from just under 70% last year), and less so from Windows Phone growth, which picked up 3.7% of the market up from 3% last year. This quarter will likely be a much different picture if the next-generation iPhone does indeed make its expected fall launch, but with all the rumors of a low-cost iPhone, it’s worth noting that LG and the smaller Chinese Android vendors are quickly gaining share with lower-cost and prepaid options (highlighted in the chart below of Android growth).