Three out of four new smartphones sold run Google's Android operating system, new figures suggest, according to Digital Spy.

Statistics from market analysts IDC appear to show that 136 million Android handsets were sold during Q3, increasing the platform's global marketshare to 75%.

The figures represent a significant rise for the OS, which accounted for 57.5% of the market this time last year.

Apple's gains were comparatively small, with the Cupertino firm's iPhone business growing from 13.8% this time last year to 14.9%.

BlackBerry and Symbian both saw sharp declines. The former dropped from 9.5% this time last year to 7.7%, while the latter plummeted from 14.6% to 4.1% following Nokia's adoption of Windows Phone.

IDC analyst Kevin Restivo attributed Google's dominance to the strength of its "multi-faceted product portfolio".

He told Reuters: "Google has a thriving, multi-faceted product portfolio. Many of its competitors, with weaker tie-ins to the mobile OS, do not."

Microsoft, which currently accounts for 3.6% of the smartphone market, is expected to make gains over the next quarter following the launch of Windows Phone 8.