Android leads smartphone market

A new study from Canalys claims that in the final quarter of 2010 Google mobile OS Android overtook Nokia’s Symbian platform to become the best selling smartphone OS in the world.

Shipment of Android-based devices hit 33.3m worldwide in the period. By comparison, Symbian device sales hit 31m. Apple iOS sales were 16.2m, followed by RIM (Blackberry) 14.6m and Microsoft (3.1m).

This gives Android a 32.9 per cent share of the total global smartphone market for the period. Nokia grabbed 30.6 per cent, Apple 16 per cent, RIM 14.4 per cent and Microsoft 3.1 per cent.

In the same period in 2009 Android shipments reached just 4.7m, meaning year-on-year shipments are up an incredible 615.1 per cent.

In total 101.2m smartphones were sold worldwide in the quarter – that’s up 88.6 per cent year-on-year.

"Android was by far the largest smart phone platform in the US market in Q4 2010, with shipments of 12.1m units – nearly three times those of RIM’s BlackBerry devices," Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd stated.

"Windows Phone 7 devices appeared too late in the quarter to take full advantage of holiday season purchasing. As a result, Microsoft lost share in the United States, from eight per cent in Q4 2009 to five per cent in Q4 2010."

The news comes just days after Sony made the shock announcement of its support for Android with its upcoming PlayStation Suite platform.