In 2015, the Android and iOS operating systems overwhelmingly commanded the world’s smartphone market with a combined 97.5 percent market share. This compared to just six years ago when the two operating systems accounted for less than 20 percent of the smartphones sold in the market.
Asia is now home to more than one billion smartphone users and the numbers are likely to increase in the years ahead as smartphone adoption rates in Asia’s emerging markets continue to rise exponentially. Here’s a look at how the two major smartphone operating systems in the world are faring in Asia.
Southeast Asia
| Country | Android OS | iOS |
| Indonesia | 94% | 6% |
| Malaysia | 82% | 18% |
| Philippines | 81% | 19% |
| Singapore | 58% | 42% |
| Thailand | 74% | 26% |
| Vietnam | 65% | 35% |
The Android OS has a dominant market share in most Southeast Asian countries in 2015. It is interesting to note that there is a wide disparity in the Android OS percentage between the developing and developed countries within Southeast Asia. In countries such as Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia, more than 80 percent of the smartphones in the market are running Android OS while just 58% of smartphones in Singapore are running the same operating system.
This disparity may be attributed to the availability of Android in both high-end and cheaper smartphones, making it affordable for the masses in emerging Southeast Asian markets to purchase an Android smartphone. The iOS, however, is targeted towards more affluent individuals as the operating system is only available on Apple’s high-end smartphones which are usually sold at a premium.
Other Parts of Asia
| Country | Android OS | iOS |
| China | 71.4% | 27.1% |
| Japan | 44.4% | 54.1% |
| India | 73.3% | 13.4% |
| South Korea | 71.4% | 28.4% |
The same trend can also be seen in other parts of Asia. In developing countries such as China and India, home-grown smartphone brands have helped to further spur the demand for smartphones running the Android OS. Successful home-grown brands in these countries include Micromax (India), Huawei (China) and Xiaomi (China).
Among the developed countries in Asia, Japan is probably one of the few markets (if not the only one) in the Asia Pacific region that has an iOS-dominant market share. Its neighbour, South Korea, largely swings favourably to the Android OS market share as a result of the strong dominance of its home-grown, Android-based smartphone brands such as Samsung and LG.