Android tops smartphone sales again in 2012

It was an Android-dominated market last year for smartphone buyers.

CNN reports that Android grew its already dominated market to a whopping 68.8 percent last year. The ever-popular Apple iPhone came in second at 18.8 percent. Yes, the gap was that huge.

BlackBerry and Windows phone came in third and fourth, respectively.

"The dominance of Android and Apple reached a new watermark in the fourth quarter," said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team. "Android boasted a broad selection of Smartphone’s, and an equally deep list of Smartphone vendor partners. Finding an Android Smartphone for nearly any budget, taste, size and price was all but guaranteed during 2012. As a result, Android was rewarded with market-beating growth."

Compare Android and Apple: Android shipped out 159.8 million phones last year while Apple shipped out only 85 million iPhones, reports CNET. Samsung was Android's top beast, selling 384.6 million phones.

It’s not a shock that Android tops the list; they have tons of phones available in every imaginable size and price. Apple has a popular product in the iPhone, but only six models have been released, and all are very similar.

Even with the much-anticipated iPhone 5 release this past year, it was the older version that made up most of the sales. One reason for that could have been the lower prices available for them or maybe because of the changes made to the iPhone 5.

Windows and BlackBerry have been trying to make big pushes. The new Windows 8 phone was unveiled as well as the new BlackBerry operating system and full-touch smartphone.

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