Smart Phones O/S: Google’s Android topples Symbian

According to leading market intelligence firm, Canalys, Google’s Android has dethroned Nokia’s Symbian to emerge as the world’s leading operating system (O/S) for smart phones.

The latest data by Canalys, released today shows that worldwide shipments of Android-based smart phones reached 32.9 million versus 31 million smart phones which run on Nokia’s Symbian platform, during the fourth quarter of calendar year 2010.

However, the report highlights that Nokia retained its global market leadership of the smart phone market with a share of 28%. During the Q4, worldwide smart phone market continued to surge, clocking a robust growth rate of 89% y-o-y with shipments of 101.2 million units while for the CY2010, the worldwide shipments grew at 80% to just below 300 million units.

The Android’s robust run was led by “strong performances from a number of vendors, notably LG, Samsung, Acer and HTC, whose volumes across these platforms grew 4,127%, 1,474%, 709% and 371% respectively year-on-year,” Canalys said in its report. “HTC and Samsung together accounted for nearly 45% of Google OS-based handset shipments,” it further added.

“2010 has been a fantastic year for the smart phone market. After a difficult 2009, the speed with which the market has recovered has required real commitment and innovation from vendors and they have risen to the challenge,” said Canalys VP and Principal Analyst Chris Jones. However, he cautioned, “vendors cannot afford to be complacent. 2011 is set to be a highly competitive year with vendors looking to use new technology, such as dual-core processors, NFC and 3D displays, to differentiate their products and maintain value.”

Please visit http://www.canalys.com/ for more info.

Amy, Chief Editor, 

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