Android and iOS powered more than 80 percent of smartphones in Q1 2012, says IDC

According to market research firm IDC, during the first quarter of 2012 more than 80 percent of smartphones ran either Android or iOS. Android was the clear leader accounting for 59 percent of devices — 45.4 percent of which were made by Samsung — while Apple came in second with 23 percent. These numbers show a big jump from the same period last year, when the two combined for only a 54.4 percent share of the market — and it’s a market that’s continuing to grow, as IDC earlier reported that the global smartphone market grew by 42.5 percent year-over-year in Q1 2012.

Nokia’s Symbian OS was by far the biggest loser, dropping from a 26 percent share in the first quarter of 2011 down to just 6.8 percent during the first three months of this year, though it still managed to take third spot. And Windows Phone isn’t picking up the slack commanding just 2.2 percent of the market (though these numbers don’t take into consideration the Lumia 900, which launched in April). Unsurprisingly, Blackberry is also continuing to struggle — despite being the fourth most popular OS during the quarter, it saw its share cut by more than half, dropping from 13.6 percent to 6.4 percent. And with the anticipation over Apple’s next iPhone and Android-powered devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III, these numbers likely won’t change all that much anytime soon.