A new report indicates that Android may be on the verge of a popularity explosion. According to Strategy Analytics, sales of smartphones using the Google-backed open-source mobile operating system will grow an astounding 900 percent this year.
By comparison, the report said the next fastest-growing smartphone OS, Apple’s iPhone, will grow 79 percent.
‘Gained Early Traction’
Strategy Analytics Senior Analyst Tom Kang said Android “gained early traction during the second half of 2008” and is gradually spreading throughout Europe and Asia. Of course, Android is starting from a relatively low base of one million to two million sold to this point, compared to nearly 40 million iPhones.
The research firm said the drivers of Android’s growth are a “relatively low-cost licensing model, its semi-open-source structure and Google’s support for cloud services.” These factors, plus support from operators and developers, are encouraging hardware manufacturers to release products for the platform.
An increasingly important factor in smartphone sales are the third-party applications available for a device. Jeffrey Hammond, an analyst at Forrester, said he sees “a race among the various mobile platforms to offer the lowest barriers to entry” for developers.
Right now, he said, Apple is still leading, but Android, Palm, Nokia, Microsoft and others are dramatically increasing their emphasis on third-party application development. Hammond noted that Android has in place “the building blocks to do a better job” in attracting developers.
And there is some discontent among iPhone developers. Recently, some iPhone developers have complained about the financial arrangements for even successful apps on that platform, as well as the difficulty of competing with so many free apps.
‘Apples to Oranges’
Even so, said Current Analysis’ Avi Greengart, there is still “a tremendously long road ahead” for Android. He pointed out that Apple already has about 40,000 apps in its App Store, versus a few hundred for Android…