At Mobile World Congress this week, new attempts to create competing mobile device software ecosystems were announced. What are they up against? Google Android and Apple iOS, the number one and number two ranked smartphone operating systems (OS) worldwide, combined account for 91.1 percent of all smartphone shipments during the fourth quarter of 2012 (4Q12). According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), Android smartphone vendors and Apple shipped a total of 207.6 million units worldwide during 4Q12 -- that's up by 70.2 percent from the 122.0 million units shipped during 4Q11. For calendar year 2012, Android and iOS combined for 87.6 percent of the 722.4 million smartphones shipped worldwide -- that's up from 68.1 percent of the 494.5 million units shipped during calendar year 2011. "The dominance of Android and Apple reached a new watermark in the fourth quarter," said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC . Android boasted a
TMT Market Research Summaries and Analysis