The results are in: together, Android- and iOS-powered phones make up 85 percent of all smartphone shipments.

The IDC study shows that this is a record high for the two giants--especially for Android, which is completely crushing iOS in phones shipped around the world.  Android rose to 68.1 percent market share, up from 45.9 percent last year.  

The leader of the pack: Samsung, which makes up 44 percent of shipped smartphones alone. Samsung reported $5.9 billion in profits in its second quarter after selling 10 million Galaxy S handsets in a mere two months.

On the other hand, Apple’s posted a 5.6 percent market share growth, which was based on 27.5 percent of units shipped in 2012. Apple has increased their market share, but is far behind Android.

So why is Apple lagging?  Apple’s growth, albeit slow, is due to a few factors.

The first is that there is a wider range of products using the Android operating system, so users have more choice in product purchases. The second, and arguably more important, is that Apple hasn’t released a new phone since October of 2011. There is speculation that Apple loyalists are decidedly holding off on purchasing new smartphones until the next iPhone's release in September of this year. In the meantime, while Apple is growing, Android definitely isn’t slowing.

Not surprisingly, Symbian and BlackBerry have dropped below five percent.

The surgence of Windows 7 phones will also pack a punch next year when it comes to affecting the overall market share. While it is predicted to only marginally affect the sales of iOS and Blackberry, it will compete primarily with Android phones and steal its user base from there.

On the tablet front in China, Apple is dominating, as the iPad has taken 72.6 percent market share. Conversely, Samsung saw 3.59 percent and the Lenovo Group’s PC tablet ranked in at 8.38 percent. This is attributed to slashed prices on the iPad 2, as well as Chinese consumers being able to buy the new iPad only in the second quarter (though it was launched in March).

In the never-ending story of Android vs. Apple, Android is currently ahead of the race, as shipments (and therefore one can logically assume, sales) are steadily rising. However, the tables will quickly turn after the iPhone 5’s arrival next month, and again when the Windows 7 phone gains more prominence.