Samsung is feeling the pressure despite the iPhone’s falling market share

Research firm Kantar Worldpanel has released a new report highlighting global smartphone sales over the October-December period, finding that while Apple’s market share dip slightly in key markets, Google’s Android devices increased their lead over other platforms during the end of 2013, registering year-over-year growth in various major markets. 

Android continues to hold court over the rest of the mobile industry in almost every global market, according to a new report from Kantar Research. The data shows that devices running the Google-owned operating system accounted for at least 50 percent or more of sales in the US, Europe, Latin America, Australia and China during the final three months of 2013. In some regions, Android’s share of sales is over 75 percent, and it posted annual gains in each market that Kantar measured. The research firm found that Android retook the top spot in the US market, to account for an estimated 50.6 percent of smartphone sales between October and December 2013. That’s just ahead of iOS (43.9 percent), while Windows Phone languishes some way behind in third (4.3 percent).