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Apple's iOS, Google's Android grow to 96.4% of smartphone market as competitors shrink, IDC says

The two-horse race for smartphone operating system share continues to obliterate competitors, as Apple's iOS and Google's Android were the only two platforms to see growth in the second quarter of 2014, the latest data from IDC claims.

Apple's iPhone shipments grew 12.7 percent to 35.2 million total units in the June quarter. According to IDC, that growth was slower than the wide range of devices from various manufacturers running Android, which increased by 33.3 percent to an estimated 255.3 million units.

As a result, though Apple saw growth for the period, its overall market share slipped from 13 percent of shipments in the same period in 2013 to 11.7 percent in the June 2014 quarter. Android, meanwhile, represented 84.7 percent of devices shipped in the quarter, according to IDC, up from 79.6 percent a year ago.

IDC also broke down market share by price tier, where Apple unsurprisingly dominates in the high-end range of handsets over $400. Almost all of the iPhones Apple shipped were priced over $400, while nearly 60 percent of Android handsets shipped were priced under $200.

It should be noted that IDC's methodologies have been called into question in recent months, as the firm's predictions often differ significantly from reported numbers.

With iOS and Android growing their shipments, competitors took heavy losses. Microsoft's Windows Phone, which has been struggling to gain a foothold in the market, fell an estimated 9.4 percent to just 7.4 million total units shipped worldwide. Among phones shipped, an even greater percentage were priced under $200 than with Android.

Microsoft's estimated market share was pegged at 2.5 percent for the quarter, compared to 3.4 percent of shipments in the same period a year ago.

The losses were even worse for BlackBerry, where shipments are estimated to have dropped 78 percent year over year to 1.5 million units. IDC believes BlackBerry had a 0.5 percent share of shipments in the June quarter, off from 2.8 percent in the same period in 2013.

Other mobile operating systems also saw losses, down 32.2 percent to 1.9 million collective units shipped.

But the overall market was up, thanks to the growth seen by Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Total shipments increased by 25.3 percent year over year, reaching 301.3 million units in the June quarter. In comparison, 240.5 million smartphones were shipped in the same period of 2013.