Rep Power: 497

MORE THAN HALF of all smartphones sold in the third quarter were running Android, according to data from analyst Gartner.

Google's Android operating system (OS) accounted for 52.5 per cent of smartphone sales, almost double the market share it had a year earlier, Gartner said.

Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza said, "Android benefited from more mass-market offerings, a weaker competitive environment, and the lack of exciting new products on alternative operating systems."

Not surprisingly, Nokia's Symbian OS lost 20 percentage points from the previous year, accounting for 17 per cent of smartphone sales.

Microsoft's Windows Phone had only 1.5 per cent market share in the third quarter, but Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handsets are only just starting to ship in the fourth quarter.

Read more: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...phones-android