• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, November 1, 2012

Google’s Android operating system ran on three quarters of smartphones shipped globally in the third quarter, according to data released Thursday by IDC. Android’s 75% market share is up from 57.5% a year ago and far ahead of its next closest competitor—Apple’s iOS platform—which had 15% share.

"Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008," said Ramon Llamas, research manager, Mobile Phones at IDC. "In every year since then, Android has effectively outpaced the market and taken market share from the competition.

After topping 100 million units in the second quarter, Android shipments hit 136 million in the third quarter, nearly double the 71 million shipped a year ago. iOS was the only other smartphone platform to achieve double-digit share for the quarter.

BlackBerry ranked third, with 4.3% share, followed by Symbian (2.3%), Windows Phone (2%), and Linux (1.5%). IDC noted that Windows Phone has yet to make a significant dent in the dominance of Android and iOS despite the backing of multiple manufacturers. Even so, the research firm suggested the release of Windows 8 phones in Q4 could help Microsoft turn things around.