• Gartner, Thursday, May 19, 2011 11:41 AM

During the first quarter of the year, smartphones running Android OS secured 36% of the global market, with more than 36.2 million units sold, according to new data from Gartner. "Gartner's figures show just how much of a difference a year can make," writes CNet. "During the first quarter of 2010, Android's market share stood at just 9.6 percent, putting it in fourth place."

"Android is leaving other operating systems in the dust, growing its market share in one year from 9.6% to 36%," Computerworld writes. This past quarter, meanwhile, Microsoft found itself far behind the rest of the pack, as just 3.6 million smartphones using a Microsoft mobile OS were sold -- amounting to a measly 3.6% market share. "No doubt more alarmingly for Redmond, the newer Windows Phone OS saw unit sales of only 1.6 million," CNet notes.

Earlier this year, Microsoft and Nokia signed a deal that will make Windows Phone 7 the "principal" operating system in Nokia's line of smartphones. According to Business Insider: "Gartner says Microsoft's partnership with Nokia will improve sales in the long run for Windows Phone." 

Gartner's most recent data highlights "just how much Microsoft and Nokia are in desperate need for each other," GigaOm writes. "But with the way both are giving up large amounts of market share, it shows that the new partnership might not be enough for either." "Android and [Apple's] iOS have all the momentum," writes ZDNet. Behind Nokia's Symbian -- which took 27.4% of the market during the first quarter -- Apple's iOS platform came in third with its 16.8% share.

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