Led by Samsung, Android smartphone shipments in 2012 Q2 surge to 68% of market

“Android continues to fire on all cylinders,” notes IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas in IDC’s just released report on smartphone operating system market share for the second quarter of 2012. The report reveals Android powered smartphones accounted for 68.1% of all smartphones shipped during the second quarter. Year-over-year numbers reveal the number of Android smartphones shipped in the second quarter doubled from 2011 to 2012, with more than 100 million units shipped this year during the second quarter.

Leading the way for Android powered devices was Samsung which accounted for 44.0% of Android smartphones shipped during the second quarter. Meanwhile, Apple’s share cooled to 16.9% of the market on shipments of 26 million iOS powered units. Although the growth in Apple’s numbers compared to a year ago would normally seem strong, iOS shipments are not keeping pace with the explosive expansion for Android smartphones.  This probably explains why Apple is fighting so hard in litigation against Android’s current flagship manufacturer, Samsung.

Meanwhile, stalwarts Blackberry and Symbian both saw their market share slip below the 5.0% level at 4.8% and 4.4% respectively. Market share for Windows based phones crept up slightly and Microsoft may not be far off from taking over third spot in the near future. It would be a distant third though as Android and iOS now command 85.0% of market.

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Latest Reports Indicate Upcoming HTC “Endeavor C2″ Smartphone Is Possibly The Successor To The One X

Well friends, it looks like we’re about to see another HTC device arrive sometime later this year. While many of you are thinking this will likely be a brand-new device, it’s looking more and more like a refresh of a really good device already on the market. Reports are indicating the new device will be codenamed “Endeavor C2? and will include a faster Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, better battery and urBeats headphones. Additional leaks include the upcoming body of the device being identical to existing HTC devices, which also includes the ability to use current accessories as opposed to launching new accessories. Sound a little familiar to you? Well it should— the original HTC One X smartphone was codenamed “Endeavor”, before its unveiling at MWC earlier in the year. All in all with a fairly similar profile as the original, this upcoming device points to what looks to be a supercharged version of the One X that will be called the One X+ and similar to HTC’s strategy in the past with its Sensation and Sensation XE devices.

The device won’t skimp on software either. Stuff
reports the “Endeavor C2? will utilize HTC’s brand new ClearVoice technology to improve call quality and will also be the first phone to run HTC Watch 2, the latest version of HTC’s video-on-demand offering. Sounds like those two features will compliment the rumored Sense 4.1 and quite possibly, Jelly Bean mighty well upon the device’s release— which should be around the beginning of October in the U.K. if all holds up.
Try to contain your excitement there folks. Try to contain your excitement there.

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