Recent reports reveal that Android-powered smartphones account for a majority of devices in both European and South-East Asian markets.

"Android continues to dominate the European market in the build up to the iPhone 5 release, increasing its share by 20.2% in the past year," said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Android-powered handsets now account for 67.1 percent of smartphone purchases or nearly two-thirds of the European OS market. At 86.8 percent, Spain led Android smartphone sales in Europe, followed by Germany with 72 percent, the UK with 62.4 percent, France with 61.9 percent, and Italy with 58.6 percent of Android sales.

By contrast, Apple's iOS market share fell from 19.6 percent to 14.6 percent. Apple's market share was the highest in the UK with 21.8 percent of the British market.

RIM's OS market share too showed a 10.6 percent decline in Europe, falling to 15 percent. However, Microsoft's Windows OS rose from 3.6 percent to 5.2 percent of the European market.

"Surprisingly, Windows has managed to maintain its 5% share despite a raft of new Windows 8 products being announced. However, this has been achieved through heavy discounting," said Sunnebo.

The analysis also noted that smartphones with bigger screens are "becoming noticeably more popular". Apparently, 29% of Android devices sold during the reporting period sported "a screen size of over 4.5 inches." Sunebo observed that users who own larger screen smartphones "tend to be much more engaged with their device across a whole array of functions." Additionally, only a paltry 19 percent of consumers who own a smaller device download and watch videos, when compared to 65 percent users who own a smartphones with over 5-inch screens.

"ComTech data shows that the more engaged consumers are with their device, the more likely they are to stay loyal to an OS/brand when they upgrade," concurred Sunebo.