Android continues to grow, meanwhile Blackberry and Windows are all but dead

Honestly, it’s been awhile since there were really any true competitors to Android and iOS.

Looking back, we’d say the last time the competition was really hot was in 2011, when Blackberry still controlled a decent share and Windows and Bada actually looked like that had a small shot at success. These days, the few competitors left are slowly dropping off the radar and, now according to the latest report from IDC, Blackberry’s OS is all-but dead with Windows not far behind.

Looking at Q4 of 2016, Android now represents 81.7% of the mobile OS market, growing exactly one percent when compared to the same timeframe in 2015. Meanwhile, iOS’ share went up very slightly and Windows dropped from 1.1% to a piddly .3%. As for Blackberry, the tiny .2% it was holding to has been effectively reduced to 0%, and even the “other OS” category is slowly falling apart.

Competition is a good thing so it’s a bit of a shame to see that the era of multiple OS options has pretty much come to an end. FireFox OS is dead, Blackberry OS is essentially dead, and Windows is dying. Could things ever change? Hard to say. While Tizen has enjoyed some success as a smartwatch platform, it seems less likely it will ever enjoy more than a super niche space when it comes to smartphones.

What are your thoughts on the current mobile space, and how it has become a two-man race? Do you think anyone else can ever rise up to compete, even if in limited form? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.