Apple, Google, and the Race for Smartphone Market Share
Within a few years of the release of the iPhone, smartphone market share was unquestionably dominated by the mobile operating systems developed by two companies: Apple and Google. Together, iOS and Android accounted for approximately 96% of all smartphones shipped in 2014. Smartphones running the Windows Phone operating system developed by Microsoft accounted for just under 3% market share, with BlackBerry devices and smartphones running other platforms making up the remaining 1%.
The dominance of the operating systems shipped by Apple and Google means that if software developers choose to develop mobile applications for just these two platforms, they will still reach 96% of all smartphones. As a result, many developers choose not to spend time and money developing applications that are compatible with smartphones that run an operating system other than iOS or Android. Regardless of whether Apple and Google had better operating systems than Microsoft, once software developers began to develop applications exclusively for iOS and Android, consumers had much less of an incentive to purchase smartphones that shipped with Windows Phone.
The race for smartphone market share is an example of a “rich-get-richer” feedback process. Mobile operating systems that have more users will be more attractive to software developers. Therefore, these operating systems will offer more applications than their competitors, and will in turn attract more users. The cycle continues, leaving less of an opportunity for new or less-popular operating systems to gain significant market share. Furthermore, people have a tendency to mimic the behavior of others. If an individual sees that most people around him or her are using smartphone running either iOS or Android, he or she will infer that these operating systems are superior to alternative operating systems. Again, this serves to amplify the success of products that are already succeeding.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2015/02/25/android-ios-market-share/