Helped in large part by the success of the Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung was able to claim 94.7 percent of the total profits from Android smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2013.
The numbers come by way of a study conducted by Strategy Analytics measuring global Android smartphone profits in Q1. LG is a pretty distant second, with the LG Optimus G and rest of the company's Android lineup taking in a meager 2.5 percent of the world's Android profits. In third place, the study lists "others," with 2.7 percent of the global share.
"We believe Samsung generates more revenue and profit from the Android platform than Google does," Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said in a statement. "Samsung has strong market power, and it may use this position to influence the future direction of the Android ecosystem. For example, Samsung could request first or exclusive updates of new software from Android before rival hardware vendors."
CNET reports that all together, operating profits from smartphone sales in Q1 2013 were $12.5 billion and Android represented 43 percent of that.
"Samsung is, for now, the undisputed king of the global Android smartphone industry," said Mawston. "We believe Samsung generates more revenue and profit from the Android platform than Google does."
That's certainly an impressive milestone. According to VentureBeat, Samsung shipped 82.2 million devices in Q1 2013, counting its phones, tablets and laptops. With the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Galaxy S4 now on the market and already on track to outsell it's the S3, it's likely that Samsung will remain on top of the Android market for some time to come.
