Android takes 90 per cent of world’s biggest market

A report from Analysys International claims Android now accounts for 90.1 per cent of all smartphone devices in China – the world’s largest mobile market. 

Year-on-year Android has grown 58.2 per cent, according to the report. Apple’s share of the space, however, declined from 6 per cent to just 4.2 per cent within the same period. 

The research firm, according to BGR, does not include knock-off Android smartphones, nor does it include iPhones that have been smuggled in from Hong Kong. 

Budget Android devices are said to be the driving force behind Android’s dominance of the market, with the average price of an Android handset being around £130 while Apple’s iPhone costs significantly more, averaging around the £453 mark. 

Many of Google’s services are blocked or heavily constricted inside China, which makes it difficult for the company to generate advertising revenues from the platform. So despite owning nearly the entire space, Google isn’t making as much money as it should be. 

Hardware manufacturers like Samsung will be benefiting most from the rise of Android in China, although Huawei and a whole host of other OEMs that specialise in budget-devices will also no doubt be making a killing off the back of Android’s dominance. 

Apple is expected to launch its iPhone 5 in China before the close of 2012.