Android tops 81 percent of smartphone market share in Q3

Now that we know what smartphone market share looked like in the third quarter when broken down by manufacturer, it's time to compare performance by platform. As you'd imagine, the world is still Android's oyster. Strategy Analytics estimates that the OS has crossed the symbolic 80 percent mark, reaching 81.3 percent of smartphone shipments by the end of September. Not that Google was the only company doing well -- Nokia's strong US sales helped Windows Phone grow to 4.1 percent of the market, or nearly double what it had a year ago. Whether or not these trends continue is another matter. Although Android likely isn't in danger given the launches of phones like the Galaxy Note 3, there are also new iPhones and Lumias on the scene; there may be one or two surprise upsets when the fourth quarter is over.