Android Now More than 70 Percent of Worldwide Market

Pending release of the iPhone 5 in last quarter suppressed sales analysts say

Nearly 3 out of 4 smartphones in the world are now running on Google's Android operating system, according to a report on third quarter sales released Wednesday.

Android now accounts for 72.4% of the market for smartphone operating systems, up from 52.5% in the period a year earlier. A big chunk of that gain was attributed to Samsung, which sold 55 million smartphones. The bulk of Samsung's smartphones run on Android.