iOS and Android: The Best in Technology

Are Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android the best inventions of technology? If the adoption rates of the two operating stems are anything to go by, they are surely the most popular. According to figures released in the year 2012, the number of consumers embracing the iOS and Android platforms has surpassed that of any other form of technology. People taking on to use of smartphones has been ten times more than the number compared to those affected by the personal computer revolution in the 1980s, the internet boom of the 1990s, and the social network usage of recent times. With the advent of smartphones and the emergence of the iOS and Android operating systems, the market for these platforms has emerged as one of the most profitable ones in the history of technology. According to the latest figures, there are over 640 million Android and iOS users in Western Europe and North America alone.

Gone are the days when the usage of mobile platforms was enjoyed only by the developed countries and the workforce of large enterprises. iOS and Android adoption is an international phenomenon. In fact, these operating systems are penetrating faster in the mobile markets of the developing countries as opposed to their developed counterparts. Though the US and China have taken the lead, the markets of other European nations like the UK, France, Germany, and Spain are not much behind as per the number of iOS and Android users. Small Asian nations of Japan and South Korea, along with South America’s Brazil are surprise packages in terms of number of iOS and Android platform users. Data has pointed to the fact that the number of users of both Google’s and Apple’s OS platforms increase by 30 million every year; China contributes to the maximum part of the growth rate with 100 million new active mobile device participants every year. Mobile market researchers are of the opinion that China will soon overtake the US to become the largest market for iOS and Android users in the near future.

One look at the growth rates of Android and iOS usage worldwide calculated between years 2011 and 2012 and we will realize how the developing small countries (the ones famed to possess fewer resources) are leading from the front and setting an example to realize benefits of both operating systems and the mobile apps running on them. Countries like Chile, Argentina, Iran, Vietnam, Turkey, and India have recorded the highest switch over rates to mobile devices that run the iOS and Android platforms. The best part of the increased adoption of technology in the form of the Apple and Google operating systems is that they are being accepted among broad spectrum of users ranging from 12 to 70 years of age. Both the iOS and Android operating systems offer applications that satisfy the mobile needs and interests of users from ranging from young students to the working class and retired personnel.

While there have been reports of mobile app markets becoming saturated due to the large number of software tools launched every other day, demand for new mobile applications running on the iOS and Android platforms will continue soaring, say mobile market researchers. With the growth of adoption of these platforms rising internationally, this is perhaps the best phase in the history of technology.