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"Global smartphone shipments reached 290.2 million units in Q4 2013, up 34 percent from 217.0 million units in Q4 2012. Google's Android secured 78.4 percent global share in the quarter (78.9 percent in all of 2013), Apple's iOS fell to 17.6 percent (15.5 percent in 2013), and Windows Phone took third with 3.2 percent (3.6 percent in 2013).\r\n\r\nThe latest figures are from Strategy Analytics, which reported not only Q4 2013 smartphone data but also combined its findings for all of last year.\r\n\r\nHere are the results for the previous quarter as well as the previous year:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIn 2013, a record 781.2 million Android smartphones shipped worldwide, four times more than from Apple and Microsoft combined. Overall, Android was up year-over-year in the fourth quarter, as well as annually between all of 2012 and all of 2013.\r\n\r\nOn the flipside, Strategy Analytics notes Android's annual growth rate slowed to 62 percent in 2013, its lowest level in the platform's history. 2014 will likely result in more slowing, and rivals will undoubtedly try to take advantage.\r\n\r\nDespite record volumes, last year was not a good one for Apple in terms of market share. It was down year-over-year in the fourth quarter, and was also down annually between all of 2012 and all of 2013. The company shipped 153.4 million smartphones worldwide but growth slowed sharply to just 13 percent annually, and its new 5c model performed less strongly than expected.\r\n\r\nMicrosoft in 2013 cemented its third-place position by shipping 35.7 million units worldwide. It was up year-over-year in the fourth quarter, as well as annually between all of 2012 and all of 2013. That being said, the Windows Phone platform still has a very upward battle.\r\n\r\nLast quarter, we asked if Google and Microsoft would be able to keep growing their respective shares despite Apple's new devices. So far, it seems that indeed they can, but anything can happen in 2014.\r\n\r\nTop Image Credit: Toshifumi Kitamura/Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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