Study Highlights Samsung's Dominance in the Android Space

Android has been growing its market share at such a fast clip that it is creating success for numerous companies focused on it. According to new research from the folks over at Flurry, Samsung may be the biggest Android-driven winner of all. Flurry surveyed 45,340 Android device users, of whom 88 percent used phones and 12 percent used tablets, and found that Samsung is far and away the dominant Android device maker. In fact, Apple should consider Samsung the biggest threat to its iOS business.

According to the Flurry research:

"Two facts about Android are now well established: 1) Android smartphones now dominate many markets in terms of device shipments, but 2) The market for Android devices is famously fragmented."

Flurry also did some interesting research on what kinds of "personas" use various types of Android devices. The report notes:

"Overall, owners of Android tablets spent 64% more time using apps than owners of Android smartphones. This ratio varied by category, as shown in the chart below. For example, owners of Android smartphones spent more than five times as much time, on average, in Business apps as owners of Android tablets. Sports and Photography were other categories that heavily favored phones. As with iOS, Education and Games skewed more toward tablets."

The research lines up with other studies showing that Samsung is becoming very dominant in the Android space. Remember when HTC drew all the headlines for Android phones and being a champion of the Android platform? Samsung has built its smartphone strategy around Android and is charging ahead.

 As Google ramps up its Motorola Mobility strategy, it will help drive the Android platform in new ways, and Google may even introduce fresh incentives for Android development. Without a doubt, Android-based development is keeping the smartphone wars very competitive.