Android OS to pass Windows Mobile by 2014

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 13:10

Your IT - Mobility

A prominent industry analyst firm is predicting continued growth for Google's Android smartphone operating system.

According to industry analyst Ovum's figures, the market share of Symbian OS slipped from 58% in 2008 to 48% in 2009.

The company expects this trend to continue, especially in the light of the adoption of Android OS by four of the top five handset vendors.

Ovum has apparently lifted its growth projection for the smartphone market. Las year it said shipments would grow by almost 20% per year until 2014, when over 406 million smartphones (29% of the total handset market) would be shipped.

Extend that growth for another year, and you get 487 million units.

But Ovum now predicts 560 million smartphones for 2015.

Of those, only 30% (168 million) will be based on Symbian OS, the current market leader.

If Ovum's numbers prove correct, 110.8 million (20%) will be Android phones, with Android's share exceeding that of Windows Mobile by the previous year.

So where do the iPhone and BlackBerry sit in Ovum's analysis? It looks like you'll have to pay for the report to find out.