Google’s Android operating system accounted for 81 per cent of the smartphones shipped globally in Q3 2013, according to Strategy Analytics.

The performance, which was an all-time high for the OS, was achieved by taking market share mainly from Apple’s iOS and BlackBerry, said the study.

Meanwhile, albeit on a smaller scale, Microsoft Windows Phone doubled its market share from two per cent to four per cent. It shipped on more than 10 million smartphones in the third quarter.

The research firm said total global shipments were 251 million in Q3 2013, a figure it first published earlier this week when it also said Huawei had nabbed the number three spot in the smartphone market.

BlackBerry was a loser, with its platform market share dropping from four per cent to one per cent.

Apple also lost some share to Android at the lower end of the market although further losses are unlikely because of the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, which should help Apple regain share in Q4 2013.