Gartner predicts the Google-backed Android mobile operating system will surge to 14% of the global smartphone market in 2012 — ahead of the iPhone, as well as Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones. The Android mobile operating system currently runs on less than 2% of all smartphones.
Gartner forecasts Android will actually rank second globally, behind the Symbian OS, which is used in Nokia devices. Symbian now runs on about half of all smartphones, but will fall to 39% in 2012, Gartner says.
Gartner predicts an enormous surge in popularity because of the range of functions and applications that will be available in coming years, a Gartner analyst said in an interview with Computerworld.
At CTIA in San Diego today, Samsung and Sprint took the wraps off the Android-based Moment (above), a touchscreen handset with a full QWERTY keyboard. It will be available from Sprint starting November 1 for $179.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The Samsung Moment, with an 800 Mhz processor. Sprint earlier announced it will carry the HTC Hero which is also expected to be heading for Verizon Wireless.
- Sprint will have two Android phones; the HTC Hero and The Samsung Moment.
- Verizon Wireless is also expected to carry the HTC Hero, as well as the Motorola Sholes, an Android slider.
- AT&T could be getting a rumored Android smartphone from Dell in the United States. Dell plans to introduce a U.S. version of its “oPhone” for China — which runs on Android.
- The T-Mobile’s Samsung Behold II (right), another Android phone, was announced on Monday and should be available on T-Mobile’s 3G network in the U.S. by the end of the year. T-Mobile USA will have four Android phones after the original HTC G1, the HTC-manufactured MyTouch 3G, The Behold II and the upcoming Motorola Cliq.
Here’s Motorola’s free MOTODEV Studio for Android, which features a built-in emulator view.
Just like Motorola’s, MotoBlur and HTC’s TouchFLO 3D, Samsung has put its own spin on the Android operating system by using its next-generation TouchWiz interface. TouchWiz primarily exists to provide customization of shortcuts to commonly used features and applications.
Barnes and Noble’s Android-powered 6-inch e-reader with WiFi may be launching as early as next month, with a color Plastic Logic e-book reader rumored for Spring 2010. B&N operates the Fictionwise, eReader and their own branded online e-book store.
Gartner says by the end of 2012, Symbian will be on top with 203 million devices sold, and 39% of the market. Android will be second with nearly 76 million units sold, and 14.5% of the market.
Coming in a close third, the iPhone will ship on 71.5 million devices in 2012, giving a 13.7% market share. Windows Mobile will finish fourth, with 66.8 million units sold, or 12.8% of the market.
As many as 30 Android-powered phones will be available by year-end, driving prices down. More than 10,000 applications are available through the Android Market. Here are 10 free Android apps and 10 reasons why Android 1.6 is going to make your Hero/Galaxy/Magic even better in the coming months.
