Google's Android is no longer just the world’s most popular smartphone software, it’s now the most used operating system in the world, period.
Taking a crown that Microsoft has held for almost three decades, Google’s smartphone system has taken over the title of the world’s most popular operating system in terms of internet usage.
That’s according to figures compiled by StatCounter that show that Android’s meteoric rise in popularity has now seen it surpass Windows as the OS of choice for more than a third of the world’s internet users.
Given that virtually every computer and phone is now connected to the web in some capacity, this is pretty solid metric on which to base success.
The latest figures show that Android currently powers a staggering 37.93% of world’s internet-connected devices.
This just edges out the 37.91% of devices still running Microsoft’s Windows platform across computer, tablet and smartphone form factors and marks the first time Microsoft has been knocked off top spot since the ‘80s.
“This is milestone in technology history and the end of an era,” said Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter.
“It marks the end of Microsoft’s leadership worldwide of the OS market which it has held since the 1980s. It also represents a major breakthrough for Android which held just 2.4% of global internet usage share only five years ago.”
Google’s stranglehold on 80% of the global smartphone market is a huge foundation on which to build, and Microsoft’s previously unobtainable OS lead has been shattered in recent years due to the company’s lack of standing in the smartphone space.
Still the dominant force in the laptop and desktop space, powering 84% of machines, Microsoft’s Windows platform powers just 1% of the smartphone market.
Now that Android has overtaken Windows as the world’s most popular OS, it’s hard to see how Microsoft can retake its crown without more of a stake in the smartphone space.
