iOS Devices Stretch Market Lead Over Android

iOS grew its share of the global mobile operating system market to 24.2 percent in November, further stretching its advantage over Android.

Figures from Global Statcounter put iOS on 24.21 percent for November, up from 23.48 percent in October and ahead of Android's 21.9 percent share, slightly down on October's figure of 22.11 percent.

However, Symbian is still the most commonly-used mobile operating system globally, with a share of 30.95 percent - up from 29.84 percent in October. The steady decline of BlackBerry OS continued into November, posting a share of 8.44 percent - down 19.25 percent in November 2010.

In the UK, iOS is the most commonly used mobile OS, with a 41.26 percent share for November, slightly down on its October share of 41.47 percent. BlackBerry OS is second with 32.73 percent, up from last month's 31.75 percent share.

Android comes in third on 20.36 percent while Windows Phone's market share in the UK lies at a lowly 0.46 percent. Symbian accounted for just 2.59 percent of the UK market, in marked contrast to its global dominance.

This time last year in the UK BlackBerry OS ruled the roost, with a 43.45 percent share putting it ahead of iOS' 36.87 percent. Android was slightly below the 10 percent mark in November 2010.

Last week it was reported that UK iPhone sales in October 2011 comfortably outstripped sales of Android devices by Kantar WorldPanel ComTech. However, this was largely due to the launch of the iPhone 4S in that month and October's figures were unrepresentative of the wider trend.

Indeed, for the 12-week period ending October 30 Android handset sales accounted for 46 percent of the market with iOS on 27.8 percent. These represented year-on-year growth of 11.8 percent and 2.8 percent respectively, according to ComTech.