Information Madness

According to a survey Android surpass 55 million units worldwide and beat both the iPhone and BlackBerry in 2010, coming within spitting distance of market-leading Symbian. This survey done by Digitimes Research and the figure will give Google’s platform a 19.6 percent unit share of the global smartphone market estimated at 280 million units. This mean one in five smartphones in 2010 runs Google’s Android.

Global smartphone shipments for 2010 will top 280 million units, rising 57% from 178 million units in 2009 to account for a 20.3% share of the overall handset market, according to Luke Lin, analyst of Digitimes Research. Second-half shipments will reach 163 million units versus 117 million units in the first half.

Android largely owes its gains to handset makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. 2010 shipments of Android smartphones will grow a whopping 561 percent from 2009. Android’s share of the smartphone OS market climbed from five percent in 2009 to 13.8 percent in the first half of 2010. Full 2010 smartphone market share order will look like this: Symbian will drop to a 35 percent market share but retain its lead, followed by Google’s Android (24.5 percent), RIM’s BlackBerry (16.4 percent), Apple’s iOS (15.2 percent), and Windows-powered smartphones that will “have a difficult time” hovering above the five percent mark.

Symbian-enabled smartphones will see their market share contract in the second half as heightened competition is expected in both high-end and entry-level markets. Although Symbian will retain the top spot, second-half and full-year market shares are projected slip to 32.6% and 35%, respectively.

Android's share of the worldwide smartphone market has risen from less than 5% in 2009 to 13.8% in the first half of 2010 and is projected to reach 24.5% in the second half to become the second most popular smartphone platform, according to Lin. Shipments of Android-based smartphones are estimated to jump 561% from a year ago to more than 55 million units in 2010.