Google and Microsoft mobile operating systems encountered a significant growth during 2013 as nearly one billion handsets were shipped throughout last year.

According to Canalys, 998 million mobile handsets were shipped in 2013, which is a 44 percent increase from 2012's figures. The mobile handsets shipped last year were boosted by fourth quarter sales as 292.8 million smartphones were shipped.

When it comes to the mobile operating systems, Microsoft's Windows Phone was named the fastest growing platform based on a year-to-year increase from 2012's fourth quarter. Canalys noted Windows Phone grew by 69 percentage points, which is an impressive feat despite a decline of 6 percent during the third quarter of 2013. The Microsoft Windows Phone performance outperformed BlackBerry for third place. Microsoft saw its handset shipments rise by 90 percent during 2013. Overall, 32.1 million Microsoft devices were shipped, which were namely Nokia Lumia smartphones.

"The soft end to the year stopped Microsoft from achieving still more positive growth,' said Shanghai-based Canalys Analyst Jingwen Wang. "Market uncertainty and caution affected Nokia's performance in [fourth quarter], with Microsoft's acquisition of its devices business yet to complete, as did arguably insufficient marketing, as Nokia and Microsoft failed to stimulate sufficient demand for the latest Lumia products to deliver a seasonal sales boost."

Samsung maintained as the world's top smartphone leader. Samsung's increased its market share by 2 percentage points from 2012 to 2013. Samsung finished 2013 with 32 percent of the market share. Samsung easily defeated Microsoft's shipments with the latter accounting for 3 percent of the market share.

Apple placed second despite shipping 154 million units during 2013. Apple's market share grew during the fourth quarter of 2013 from 13 percent to 17 percent.

Huawei toppled Lenovo for third place with a difference of less than 5 million handset units.

"Microsoft has much to do if it is to continue carving out a growing share of the smart phone market, not least driving the platform down to new entry-level price points, delivering innovation and new features, particularly at the high-end, and proactively working with, supporting and encouraging developers to commit to building compelling apps, and bring its app story closer to parity with its competitors," added Wang. "It cannot afford lengthy delays or distractions, and the combined Windows Phone devices team needs to hit the ground running."

Google's Android operating system was No. 1 during 2013, representing 79 percent of the market share or 785 million devices. Android's 2013 figures is an increase of 68 percent from 2012. Apple's iOS fell by 5 percentage points. iOS garnered 15 percent of the mobile operating system market share, which is down from 2012's 20 percent.

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO