It’s no secret that mobile analytics firm Flurry gets a kick out of tracking apps and mobile device adoption trends, and today it released some new data on iOS and Android device adoption around the globe.
The United States still leads in the number of active iOS and Android devices with 165 million, with China coming in just behind it with 128 million net active smart devices. From there, the numbers just sort of drop off — the UK finishes in third with 31 million active devices, while South Korea and Japan round out the top five with 28 and 22 million respectively.
It probably doesn’t come as much surprise to see that China is right up there with the United States — that number is partially dependent on population, after all — but what’s really interesting is the crazy amount of momentum in the Chinese smartphone market.
China became the largest smartphone market with regard to devices shipped late last year, and now Flurry pegs China as (what a surprise!) the fastest growing market for iOS and Android devices. China’s smart device market grew just over 400% year-over-year, easily pulling ahead of BRIC compatriots Russia and Brazil, whose smartphone markets grew (a completely respectable) 189% and 220% respectively between July 2011 and July 2012.
Interestingly enough, the second place title goes to Chile with 279% year-over-year growth. The South American country has proven itself to be quite a startup hub (thanks in part to innovation-friendly government programs like Startup Chile), and it’s shaping up to be quite a mobile hotspot to boot. You developers paying attention?
One thing Flurry sadly doesn’t delve into is how exactly iOS and Android usage breaks down in these countries, but there’s been considerable buzz about how those platforms are performing internationally lately.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that iOS’s market share in China has taken a pretty substantial dip as potential consumers wait for a new iPhone to be announced. Meanwhile, savvy Chinese ‘droid builders grow increasingly committed to bridging the quality gap that more than few foreigners see in their products — keep your eyes peeled on devices from Huawei, Meizu, and Xiaomi (which DST founder Yuri Milner seems awfully fond of) if you haven’t already. Numbers for Chile are a bit harder to find, but tablets and smartphone sales are expected to grow dramatically this year — according to IDC Latin America’s Marco Soto, Android powered most of the tablets sold in Chile in 2011. What’s more, Google may end up spending more time focusing on that region, if remarks from Google’s Hugo Barra are any indication; he told a gaggle of journalists in Santiago that 2012 would be the year of the smartphone in Latin America.