Android continued its domination of the global market in 2014, and if recent forecasts hold true, Google's open source operating system could be the "new Windows."

According to a new report released by research firm Gartner earlier this week, a little over 1.1 billion Android devices were shipped in 2014. The figure includes mobile phones, ultramobiles (including tablets), and PCs.

To get an idea of just how much Android beat out its competitors by, it's important to note that 262 million Apple devices running iOS or Mac OS were shipped in 2014, while Windows managed 333 million. Bear in mind that Apple shipments of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets vastly outweigh Microsoft's Windows, which still has a strong foothold in the PC market.

Android will continue its rapid growth, according to Gartner forecasts. The firm expects Android to grow at 26 percent in 2015 and eventually hit 1.6 billion shipments by 2016. Apple's iOS and Mac OS, meanwhile, are forecasted to hit just under 300 million shipments by 2016, while Windows should grow to 393 million in 2016.

"The smartphone market is becoming polarized between the high- and low-end market price points," said Gartner research director Annette Zimmermann. "On one hand, the premium phone with an average selling price at $447 in 2014 saw growth dominated by iOS, and on the other end of the spectrum you have Android and other open OS phones' growth area in the basic phone segment, where the average phone costs $100. For the midrange smartphones, the market opportunity is becoming increasingly limited."

The trend isn't new, as Android has been handily gaining, and overtaking rivals ever since its release. In the mobile department, Apple still retains some strength in markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, but other major international markets tend to favor Android heavily (think 75-85 percent in some countries). A large part of it is due to Android's open source nature, which allows for manufacturers to produce more budget-friendly options for consumers.

All of this has Felix Ritcher from Statista, a statistics analytics firm, to ponder whether Android could become as dominant as Windows once was, when it had a 90 percent market share 20 years ago.

"Now it's Windows that's struggling to stay relevant while another operating system is as ubiquitous as Windows once was," writes Ritcher. "It's not Apple that has risen to dominance though -- Mac OS and iOS still trail Windows in terms of market share. It's Android that has taken over the reins from Microsoft."

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