Android, iPhone Dominating Global Smartphone Sales: Report

A new report confirms what the tech industry already suspected -- Apple and Android are taking over the global smartphone market as once-dominant players Nokia Corp. and BackBerry maker Research in Motion fall by the wayside.

Google's Android and Apple's iPhone now control 62 percent of the global smartphone market, almost doubling the 32 percent share the two had at this time one year ago, says a report from the research firm Gartner Inc.

In North America, Android and Apple control 83.5 percent of smartphone sales.

And the report reveals Apple's global smartphone dominance is expanding. Since Android is an operating system used by many different manufactures, the iPhone is the clear single product leader, as nearly one in five smartphones sold around the world is now an iPhone.

Apple is preparing to increase its fast-growing global smartphone dominance as the company nears the much-anticipated release of its forthcoming iPhone 5.

Once the smartphone leader, Research in Motion's BlackBerry is falling further behind, falling from 18.7 percent of all smartphone marketshare to just 11.7 percent in one yaer.

Android devices now account for 43.4 percent of the global smartphone market. Many manufacturers using Android have lowered device prices to the $100 range, providing fast growth for Google's system. In the first quarter last year, for instance, Android smartphones comprised only 10 percent of smartphone sales globally.

Finnish phone-maker Nokia remains in second place, but the company's share of the smartphone market has dropped precipitously, to 22 percent in the recent quarter from 41 percent in the same quarter in the previous year.