NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, was eight times more profitable than Google’s Android in the fourth quarter, according to a new report.

Fueled by premium-priced products and relatively lean manufacturing costs, Apple’s AAPL, -3.17% smartphone operating profit was $18.7 billion during the fourth quarter, trouncing Android’s $2.3 billion, according to data consulting firm Strategy Analytics.

Overall smartphone operating profit grew 31% world-wide to $21 billion last quarter, with Google Inc.’s GOOG, -2.37% Android hardware vendors capturing a record low 11% share of the profitability, down from 29% last year, and iOS taking home a record high 89%, up from 71% a year ago, according to the report.

The two companies hold a virtual monopoly over mobile operating systems, far outpacing rival operating systems from Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.24% and BlackBerry Ltd. US:BBRY. Earlier this week, data giant IDC said Android and iOS held a combined 96.3% share of the operating-system market during the fourth quarter, up from 95.6% in a year before.

Android narrowly outpaced the overall market by shipments in fiscal 2014, despite Apple’s stellar fourth quarter, where it sold 74.5 million iPhones, according to IDC, but the lower-priced phones operating on Android, particularly in developing regions, have made it difficult for Google to keep pace with Apple’s profitability.

Meanwhile, Apple has benefited from premium-priced products, including stronger-than-expected demand for its higher-priced iPhone 6 Plus. Neil Mawston, Strategy Analytics’ executive director, said Apple’s relative profit prowess should be cause for concern for the likes of Google. “Android’s weak profitability for its hardware partners will worry Google,” he said.

Shares of Apple were up 1.1% to $130.16 in recent trade, while those of Google had climbed 1.6% during the session to to $556.10.