Google Android and Windows Mobile will see their smartphone market share increase by 2014, while BlackBerry and Apple will experience declines, according to a new research note from IDC.
Google Android and Windows Phone will see their market share
increase over the next few years, according to a new research note from IDC,
while other smartphone platforms such as Apple's iOS and BlackBerry OS face
declines.
Meanwhile, the research firm added, the overall market for
smartphones is due to increase 24.5 percent in 2011, with rapid growth only
leveling off by 2014. Some 119.4 million smartphones shipped during the first
half of 2010, an increase of 55.5 percent over the same period in
2009.
"The smartphone is the catalyst behind the rebound in the
worldwide mobile phone market this year," Kevin Restivo, an IDC analyst, wrote
in a Sept. 7 statement. "Additional product introductions and an expected
flurry of smartphone buying activity in the second half of the year will push
the market well above previous expectations."
IDC expects Android's smartphone market share to increase
from 16.3 percent to 24.6 percent between 2010 and 2014. The research note also
suggests that "Windows Mobile," which presumably groups the legacy Windows
Mobile with the upcoming Windows Phone 7, will grow from 6.8 percent to 9.8
percent of the market during that period.
Apple's iOS will fall from its 14.7 percent market share in
2010 to 10.9 percent in 2014, according to the research note, while BlackBerry
OS experiences a slight dip from 17.9 percent to 17.3 percent. Symbian will
maintain its position as the number-one smartphone platform worldwide in 2014,
although its market share will dip from 40.1 percent to 32.9 percent. "Other"
platforms will gain slightly, from 4.2 percent in 2010 to 4.5 percent by
2014.
"Android is the wild card, deserving close observation for
the rest of this year and the years to come," Ramon Llamas, another IDC
analyst, wrote in the same Sept. 7 statement. "Phone vendors have been drawn to
Android because it allows them to present their own approach to what a
smartphone experience can be. In addition, users have quickly warmed to
Android, comparing it to iOS due to its ease of use and a growing mobile
application storefront."
Llamas predicted that Dell, Kyocera, LG Electronics and
Samsung will be the key manufacturers in expanding the Android market in coming
quarters.
While manufacturers continue to install Google Android on an
increasing number of devices-including tablets-other smartphone platform-makers
have been retooling their strategy to maintain and grow their market share.
Research In Motion recently released BlackBerry 6, its new operating system
meant to appeal equally to both consumers and business users. Microsoft's
Windows Phone 7, with a retooled user interface from Windows Mobile, reached
its release-to-manufacturing milestone on Sept. 1. And Apple plans two iOS
4 updates with new features, such as a multiplayer-centric Game Center,
designed to increase the appeal of its mobile products.
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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