Image Credit : talkandroidphones.com

iPhone User? –  You’re in the minority. Smartphones powered by Android accounted for 68% of all smartphones shipped in Q2 2012, Apple iPhone came in at a in a distant second  with a 17% share of the global market. IDC analysts traced Android’s success in the market directly to South Korean personal electronics giant Samsung, which so far this year has made 44 per cent of all shipped smartphones powered by Google-backed Android software.

“The mobile OS (operating system) market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS,” IDC senior research analyst Kevin Restivo said in the firm’s quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report.

“There is still room for some mobile OS competitors to gain share, although such efforts will become increasingly difficult as smartphone penetration increases.”

The share of Windows phones grew to 3.5 percent, from 2.3 percent, in the latest quarter, largely because of its adoption by Nokia. Windows was the fifth-largest system and gaining on No. 3 BlackBerry and No. 4 Symbian.

“Android continues to fire on all cylinders,” said IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas.

Android smartphone prices were “well within reach to meet multiple budgetary needs, and the user experience from both Google and its handset partners boosted Android smartphones’ utility far beyond simple telephony,” Llamas added.