The popularity of Google’s Android operating system has been affirmed by new data showing that most handheld devices run on the platform.

The figures released by research firm Gartner also project that it will also be the fastest growing operating system used for mobiles, tablets and other handheld devices in future.

Sample this: over 37 per cent of the 2.3 billion devices being used in 2013 ran on Google’s Android operating system.

Windows and iOS have numbers that are less than half of what Android has managed.

Its future looks robust too. Gartner predicts that the number of Android-based devices is set to increase by over a third in 2014, implying that four out of ten devices worldwide would use the operating system. Shipments of devices using Apple’s iOS platform, on the other hand, would increase by over 18 per cent. By 2015, every other device would use the operating system developed by Google.

The growth is attributed to adoption of the Android OS by leading mobile and tablet-makers, as well as emerging firms like Micromax and Karbonn in India. Recently, even Microsoft launched an Android-based mobile device to cater to a wider audience.

The other key trend emerging from the report is that while mobile devices shipments would grow in single digits, tablet sales would rise at a scorching pace of nearly 39 per cent in 2014 as penetration increases in markets outside North America.

Inexpensive offerings from companies in emerging markets would drive growth. Personal computers, however, would continue to witness falling shipments as demand slackens for the systems and users upgrade to mobile devices.

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