<p>Android continues to be the most popular mobile platform, with its share of smartphone sales climbing in every major market in Q4 2013, now accounting for 69.5% of all sales across 12 key markets versus 23.7% for number-two Apple, according to figures out today from Kantar Worldpanel, a market research subsidiary of WPP. But the story is shifting when it comes to looking at what the engine is behind that growth.</p><p>Samsung, the handset maker that has led the charge for Google's OS, is "now coming under real pressure in most regions" as it faces stronger competition from local players in markets like China. There, Xiaomi led in sales for the last 12 weeks of 2013, and other Chinese handset makers like Huawei also continued to gain ground. It's still Android, but delivered in different, more locally focused packaging.</p><p>Elsewhere, although Apple has seen overall declines losing a proportion of sales in each of the 12 big markets tracked by Kantar, in fact (the trend for some time now) its new iPhone 5 models continue to lure in users at the high end, and in certain key markets, if not all of them. In the U.S., Apple lost nearly 6% of sales compared to a year ago but still accounted for just under 44% of smartphone purchases in the holiday period (Android came in at nearly 51%).</p><p>The continuing appeal of Apple among high-end users also remains a driver of sales for the company in Japan, where Apple is the biggest player of all with nearly 69% of all smartphone sales. Kantar says that a large reason for that "unarguable success" has to do with NTT Docomo, the largest mobile carrier, now finally selling the iPhone. In Q4 it accounted for some 58.1% of all smartphone sales at Docomo, a nice boost to the 92% of sales at Softbank (yes, 92% of sales) and 64% at KDDI.</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/26/kantar-android-sales-in-q4-grew-in-all-big-markets-but-leader-samsung-now-under-real-pressure/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57617831-94/android-ends-2013-on-a-high-note/">Android ends 2013 on a high note</a> (CNET (blog))</p><p><a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/27/iphone-share-strong-android-lead/">iPhone Market Share Dips Slightly as Android Increases Lead in Global ...</a> (Mac Rumors)</p><p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2014/01/27/android-still-rules-the-world-but-samsung-faces-a-challenge-in-china/">Android still rules the world but Samsung faces a challenge in China</a> (GigaOM)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dFor-T0JCp94N2MYlPfVkNZJHDarM&authuser=0&ned=us">51 additional articles.</a></p>