Google Android To Overtake iPhone OS By 2012

Oct 7 2009, 11:34am CDT | by Robert Evans

Today, Android is the underdog. It's new, it's not in widespread use, and it's being beaten by just about every other OS out there in terms of market share. The huge number of upcoming Android smartphone releases are evidence that this trend is changing, but it could still be a long time before Google's OS overtakes any of their big competitors. Or, if analysts from Gartner Inc. (via Computerworld)are correct, it could just take three years.

Gartner's just released a forecast that predicts the Android OS will be the #2 smartphone OS in the world by 2012. By that time, they estimate it will hold 14% of the market, as opposed to the 2% it holds right now. These gains by Android will come at the expense of Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile. In fact, the report states that they expect Symbian (which currently accounts for about half of all smartphones) to drop to 39% by 2012.

Google's support, including the wide range of apps and cloud computing functions that they bring to the table, are given as the main reason for Android's anticipated success. Gartner expects total Android sales to top 76 million by 2012, which compares to an anticipated 71.5 million by Apple. While the Android OS is expected to beat out the iPhone, the fact that a single phone line can be responsible for that many sales is staggering.

I like how optimistic Gartner Inc. is about Android, but I do think we need to look at this with a little more caution. As promising as it is, Android is still very new. Only in the last few months have we started to see a substantial number of releases that use the OS. If, in six months, Android sales have shot through the roof and the parade of releases continues unabated, I'll feel much more secure in these predictions.

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

What Others Say about This

Technology fuels surge in telemarketing calls

Diane was a topic of conversation at a recent dinner among friends in Camarillo. She's so annoying, they agreed, but what could they do about her? They weren't even convinced "Diane" was the real name of the woman constantly calling them to ask about cle ...
Full article at: Ventura County Star More like this 43 minutes ago

Mumbai edit: Mobile kills

It may seem an insensitive thing to say, but this was an accident waiting to happen. A young man, his ears probably filled with music, was run over by a locomotive at Kurla station even as people watching in horror screamed at him to get off the tracks. ...
Full article at: DNA India More like this 1 hour ago

Porngate: Court asks police to track down MMS sender

For the beleaguered ministers involved in porngate scam, there is still more bad news. The metropolitan court on Monday directed the Vidhana Soudha Police to investigate whether any outsiders were involved in the matter, and submit a report. The directio ...
Full article at: DNA India More like this 1 hour ago

Don't miss ...

Mobile Phones

4 Million iPhone 4S sold in First Weekend

Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.