Android owns 50.1% of U.K. smartphone market

According to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Android controls 50.1% of the smartphone market in the U.K., up from a 44.6% reading a year ago. And of those Android phones in use in the country, 86% of them are made by HTC or Samsung. That stat might rise in the near term as the HTC One series is off to a strong start and the eagerly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S III is close to launching in the U.K.

The report also shows that despite the launch of the stylish Sony Xperia S, the Japanese manufacturer finds itself falling when it comes to marketshare. Things are even worse for Korean manufacturer LG whose phones account for less than 1% of Android marketshare in the country. LG hopes to get things going in the U.K. with its launch next month of the high-end LG Optimus 4X HD. The latter should launch in Europe next month

What about BlackBerry? In the U.K., BlackBerry still is seen as a viable player in the industry even without the anticipation of BlackBerry 10. RIM's smartphones still have a better than 10% slice of the U.K.smartphone market. Windows Phone is making a move in the U.K. as its share of the smartphone market in the region is now 3.3%, up from .8% last year. Symbian has seen its slice of the U.K.smartphone pie tumble to 1.6% from last year's 10.7% meaning that in the country, Nokia has bet on the right jockey.

source: CNET