Android vs. iOS: the latest in numbers

There are two wars — each filled with countless battles — taking place in the world of smart phones: market shares for operating systems and devices.
A new report from NPD shows that Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Android OS continues to eat away at the market shares of Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iOS and especially Research In Motion Ltd.’s (RIMM) BlackBerry OS.
A rather astounding 44% of all smart phones purchased in the last quarter were running Android, marking an 11% quarter-over-quarter increase. Apple’s iOS actually rose one percentage point to 23% while RIM fell from 28% to 22% between the second and third quarters.
“Much of Android’s quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple,” said Ross Rubin, executive director at NPD. “The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide.”
The year-over-year numbers are even more profound. RIM’s OS share has declined 53% while Apple’s slice has dropped 21%.
Over on the device front, Apple has a new lead over RIM worldwide as well as in the United States.
Canalys reported that global smart phone sales grew 95% from the year-ago period to 80.9 million units. Nokia Corp. (NOK) held on to its leadership position with a 33% global share while Apple grabbed a 17% share that bested RIM’s 15% share in the third quarter.
In the United States, Apple held a new lead over RIM with a 26% share, according to Canalys.