Yep – you read that right. Despite the mounting success of Android and the continued barnstorming of the iPhone and iOS, Nokia’s Symbian mobile operating system has come out on top of the pile for 2011.
The surprising news comes courtesy of StatCounter, who’s tallied up the worldwide usage of all mobile operating systems for the year, determining that Symbian’s 33.46 per cent market share in December saw it end the year with 5.23 per cent more than the second place iOS.
With Nokia’s smartphone efforts now focused largely on Windows Phone with the Lumia 800, it’s easy to forget that the company continues to launch Symbian handsets and still has a large back catalogue of handsets running on that OS. The Nokia N8, for instance, managed to rack up a decent sales figure in 2011.
But that’s not the real reason it’s on top. The uptake of Android, the market share of which climbed steadily throughout 2011, is largely a western phenomenon. This video of Android activations shows just that:
The US, UK and Europe have taken to Android keenly, but by StatCounter’s data, iOS still has greater worldwide penetration. Nokia’s success in markets other than the west (such as Africa) with lesser specced handsets has kept Symbian in the game. Or on top of the game, as is the case here.
Via NokNok
