What do Google and China have in common (besides a poor track record in data privacy)? They’re both leading the mobile space. Android devices shipped with over half the smartphones sold in the quarter ending in June 2013, a period during which China furthered its lead as the most malware-ridden nation on earth.

The latest figures from Kantar reveal that Google’s operating system accounted for 51.5 percent of U.S. smartphones sales the second quarter, a 2.2 percent increase from Q1. Apple’s iOS came in second with a 42.5 percent stake, up 3.3 percent from last year.
The success of Android, iOS and Windows Phone (which grew 4 percent) enabled Verizon to retain its position as the largest carrier in the U.S.. The company saw its stake of the mobile market increase 1.9 percent year-over-year to 36.9 percent, 10 percent more than AT&T’s 26.5 percent cut and nearly triple the share of Sprint.

Dominic Sunnebo, the global consumer insight director for Kantar, stated that “Verizon continues to lead in this second quarter of 2013, driven by its ability to provide a range of highly demanded brands and models, which has ultimately led to the carrier capturing the most sales from all three top OS brands.”

Mobile vendors are increasingly looking to China for new growth opportunities. The 1.3 billion-strong nation surpassed the U.S. as the largest smartphone market earlier this year, which is part of the reason it also doubles as the world’s largest mobile malware magnet.

NQmobile’s midyear security report shows that the number of infected devices in China increased 43 percent to 6.7 million in the second quarter of 2013. By contrast, the U.S. experienced a 63 percent drop in mobile malware infections.