We know Android has been slowly, but steadily gaining its user base and thence its market share at a global level. Statistics from November 2012 indicate a staggering market share of 75%, which is unprecedented for any mobile platform insofar.

Going down under, in Australia, over 67% os smartphones sold ran the Android Operating system. With players like Samsung and HTC releasing some excellent hardware with their Galaxy series and HTC One series, users in Australia who were earlier inclined toward getting an iPhone are now spoilt for choice.

Research and Analysis firm Telsyte now reports that the market penetration for Android devices has finally overtaken Apple devices, and now stands at 44%, with Apple just behind at 43%. While the lead may appear to be very narrow, the rapidly increasing rate of sales of Android devices, and the gradual decline in Apple device sales indicate that this margin will only increase over the next few months. The recent debacle with Apple Maps in Australia will not help Apple’s cause either.

In a way, this kind of tough competition in developed markets lead to OEMs actually looking at how to make their products better and offer more value for money. With Android already offering products which cover a wide range of budgets, as against Apple’s standard offering, the choice, or rather, the lack of it, may only drive them further towards adopting Android.

And with OEMs like Samsung, HTC and Sony constantly innovating and introducing new features and capabilities in their products, not to mention accurate mapping and navigation software, the future does look very bright indeed for the little green bot.

Via Ausdroid