A new report from research firm Strategy Analytics indicated that over one billion Android smartphones shipped in the year 2014.When I say Android devices, I am strictly referring to the smartphones, that is, the number is upwards 1,042,700,000 Android devices overall and that’s not even the cuckoo part. Did you know that the total number of smartphones shipped in 2014 totaled 1.3 billion, meaning what exactly? You guessed it right, Android smartphones made up approximately 81% of all smartphones sold last year. Let’s look at 2013 where the total number of smartphones shipped totaled one billion (781 million of those were Android handsets). With a bit of Math there we can determine that we have observed a 30% increase in total smartphone sales year over year (y/y).

Strategy Analytics elaborates that Apple’s iOS platform remains the only credible threat to Android for now, which sold 193 million smartphones in 2014.

Android smartphones equated to about 81.2% of the market in 2014, iOS stood at about 15%, Microsoft (Windows Phone) only managing 3% of the market and the ‘other’ operating systems (BlackBerry, etc.) grasping only nought .7% in 2014. The research firm elaborated that:

“Emerging markets, such as China and Indonesia, drove the industry’s growth last year and they will continue to do so through 2015.”

It obviously begs the question, which Android phones and manufacturers were responsible for this phenomenal growth? Well, here are some- Chinese OEMs (Xiaomi, Oppo, ZTE, Huawei, Meizu, and a few others) made up almost 40% of all smartphones shipped in 2014 (man, the Chinese are not letting up in this economic game of thrones, but three cheers to them and then some).

Android’s not-so-long-ago growth, in contrast, has been “fueled by gains in the low ($100 to $200) and ultra-low end (sub-$100) of the market,” according to IDC (International Data Corporation).

Ever since Google developed the Android OS in 2008, it has proven itself a formidable competitor in the face of global technology movements. Who would have known, since that time, Android OS would overtake Apple’s iOS, for which, ladies and gentleman, it was created in response. I mean the number of new Android device being activated each month continues to surge at mind-boggling rate. One of the key reasons Android has arisen like this is the fact that it is supported and adopted by several smartphone manufacturers, for instance Samsung (being the largest since the second half of 2011, yet Chinese firms are slowly chipping away at them), HTC, and Sony, just to name a few, who have all built phones designed for the Android Operating System. I do not fail to mention that it has gone through several updates, with the most recent being the Android Lollilop that has seen Google it’s design philosophy. Hot on the pursuit is Android’s App Store, which is the second largest in the world after iTunes; we can only sit and wait with bated breath at “The Hunger Games” between these two rival firms.

I am predicting that Google’s Android One devices could outsell the iPhone 6 globally devices over the course of the year, but don’t take my word for it, just wait, sit back and enjoy the show, it’s going to be a good, I can promise you that, believe it!