Android recorded strong growth in the world's two largest smartphone markets in Q2, and according to one research firm took the top spot in the biggest.
The Google-backed handset OS was catapulted to the top rung of the world's largest smartphone market, the US, research firm Canalyssaid.
Android devices represented a 34% share of the US market in Q2, becoming the largest smartphone platform in the country.
But while Nielsen agreed that Android had overtaken the iPhone by sales in the quarter, the firm said that with 27% of the market, Android still lagged five percentage points behind RIM's BlackBerry platform.
In China – the world's second largest smartphone market in Q2 – customers bought nearly 475,000 Android units, Canalys said. The platform has carved out a 7% share of the local market, from no presence at all a year ago.
These figures do not include the 174,000 smartphones shipped running OMS, a modified version of Android developed by China Mobile.
Canalys senior analyst TY Lau said Android's prospects in China were bright, given that Google appears to have recently improved its relationship with Chinese authorities, and won renewal of its internet operating license.