Android ended 2013 as the top OS across Europe, the US, China, Australia and Latin Americas three biggest markets, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech data from the three month period ending December 2013.

In the EU5 nations (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), Android held a 68.6 per cent share, up 5.7 per cent year-on-year. Apple was a distant second place at 18.5 per cent, down 5.2 per cent. You can see each OSs share across all nine markets at the bottom of the post.

“Android finished 2013 strongly, showing year-on-year share growth across 12 major global market,” said Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “Apple has lost share in most countries compared with this time last year, but importantly it has held strong shares in key markets including 43.9 per cent in USA, 29.9 per cent in Great Britain and 19 per cent in China.”

However, Samsung – the manufacturer which has done more than any other to push Android to the top in the past few years – is starting to see its market dominance challenged.

While its still the top smartphone maker in Europe, with a 40.3 per cent share, that dropped 2.2 percentage points during the period. In China, where its share remained flat at 23.7 per cent, it was overtaken by local brand Xiaomi, which took the top spot after just three years of business.