Google’s red-hot Android mobile operating system is expected to challenge the Symbian OS used by Nokia for global market supremacy by 2014, according to a new Gartner forecast. The research firm predicts Android-based devices will account for 17.6 percent of all smartphones sold this year and 29.6 percent of all shipments in 2014.
IDC likewise expects Android to make global smartphone gains — growing from a 16.3 percent market share in 2010 to 24.6 percent in 2014. “Phone vendors have been drawn to Android because it allows them to present their own approach to what a smartphone experience can be,” said IDC Senior Research Analyst Ramon Llamas. “In addition, users have quickly warmed to Android, comparing it to [Apple’s] iOS due to its ease of use and a growing mobile-application storefront.”
Rivals Respond
Gartner analysts attribute Android’s dramatic rise to marketing and support from communications service providers. “We believe that market share in the OS space will consolidate around a few key OS providers that have the most support from CSPs and developers and strong brand awareness with consumer and enterprise customers,” said Roberta Cozza, a principal research analyst at Gartner.
Gartner forecasts that Apple’s share of the smartphone market will fall from 15.4 percent this year to 14.9 percent in 2014. Analysts widely see Apple’s decision to relax the guidelines for iOS application developers it announced last April as an attempt to mitigate the growing popularity of Android among software designers.
“Developers reacted passionately when these restrictions were announced, and no doubt their reaction was a major factor in Apple’s decision to rescind them,” said Al Hilwa, director of application software development at IDC. “Mobile-platform choices are rapidly increasing, and developers are famous for shifting their allegiances if they are unloved.”
Though Gartner expects Nokia’s Symbian OS to continue to…