The Android mobile operating system grabbed three out of four smartphones sold in the world in the first quarter of 2013, Gartner said on Tuesday. Gartner said more than 156 million Android smartphones were sold in the first three months of the year, or 74.4 percent of the global total.

Samsung leads the marketplace with a 30.8 percent share. Apple held second place with its iPhone and iOS operating system, accounting for 18.2 percent of smartphones and the same percentage for its operating system, the Gartner survey showed.

"There are two clear leaders in the OS market and Android's dominance in the OS market is unshakable," said Gartner's Anshul Gupta.

BlackBerry operating system took the third place with a three percent market share, just ahead of Microsoft Windows at 2.9 percent.

Among mobile manufacturers, LG was third largest with a market share of 4.8 percent, followed by and Chinese makers Huawei (4.4 percent) and ZTE (3.8 percent).

Global smartphone sales were up 43 percent from a year ago at 210 million Gartner said.

Samsung was the number one seller in the mobile market with a 23.6 percent market share, followed by Finland's Nokia at 14.8 percent and Apple at nine percent.