According to data from StatCounter Globalstats, Android’s market share has remained fairly consistent over the past five years in South Africa, currently holding a nearly 84% share.

StatCounter GlobalStats analyses over five billion monthly page views for around 1.5 million websites to estimate the leading brands and vendors across various industries and regions.

According to the stats company, Android’s dominance in South Africa isn’t surprising.

This dominance underscores the affordability and wide availability of mid-range and budget Android smartphones across the country, appealing to a broad spectrum of users, more particularly the large population of lower income earners.

Furthermore, the prevalence of Android can be attributed to factors such as its integration into devices across various price points and brands. The open-source nature of the OS software allows manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei to cater to budget-conscious consumers, which is vital in South Africa’s market.

Apple’s iOS comes in second, with 15.85% of the market, reflecting its premium positioning and dedicated customer base. This is after it has fluctuated and ultimately decreased, over a four-year period.

Its market share was 15.18% in November 2020, which climbed steadily to 15.65% in November 2021 and 17.21% in November 2022. However, it dropped to 16.59% in 2023 and finally 15.85% as of November 2024.

Statcounter Globalstats also collects market share data for lesser-known mobile operating systems like Samsung, Linux, and Nokia.

Of these, Samsung held the highest market share, at 0.19%, as of November 2024, up from 0.07% in November 2020.

Linux for mobile devices held a 0.02% share of the South African market as of November 2024, while Nokia had a 0.01% share as of November 2024.

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Android steadily dominates the South African mobile operating system market