Android now used on almost 70% of Australian smartphones as Apple’s slice slumps

Android was the platform used to power of 69.4% of all Australian smartphones during the first quarter of 2013, according to new Kantar WorldPanel figures.

According to the figures, Android also recorded a strong 6.1 percentage point growth over the 57.5% marketshare it claimed in the same quarter a year ago.

The news was less rosy for Apple, which saw its slice of the Australian market decline slightly from 30.6% to 28.1%.

Windows Phone gained some traction in the market although still remains a distant third, claiming 5.1% marketshare compared to 4.1% for the same quarter a year earlier.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry and Symbian fell from 0.7% to just 0.3% and 5% to 1.5%, respectively.

Worldwide, Android now claims 69.6% of the market (up from 60.1%), Apple’s iOS claims 18.4% (down from 20.2%), with the top five platforms rounded out by Windows (6.7%), BlackBerry (2.5%) and Symbian (1.6%).

Android is also the market leader across five leading EU economies (Germany, Great Britain, France and Spain) with 69.6% marketshare, while also leading in the US (51.7%) and China (69.4%).

Interestingly, Japan is a particularly strong market for Apple, with the company claiming 50.2% of the market (ahead of Android on 44%), while trailing in the EU5 (18.4%), China (25.1%) and the US (41.4%).

Apple’s marketshare in Spain now stands at just 4.1%, compared to an overwhelming 92.8% for Android.