Android to overtake iPhone?

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-lif...1015-gyyf.html


Android set to topple iPhone
LOUISA HEARN
October 16, 2009 - 11:37AM

iPhone might rule the smartphone sector for now, but market researchers predict
that the dominance of Apple's popular handset could be toppled by Google's
Android mobile platform within three years.

The global sales forecast published by Gartner predicts that in 2012, Android,
Symbian (found mainly on Nokia phones) and Research In Motion (BlackBerry) will
dominate the mobile operating system market, pushing Apple's iPhone OS into
fourth position with a 13.6 per cent slice of the market.

"The iPhone is all about user experience but Apple can only produce a small
number of handsets and not everyone wants an iPhone handset. They will remain
strong but they won't take over world," said Robin Simpson, a researcher at
Gartner.

Android, on the other hand, is expected to lift its market share from 5.1 per
cent to 18 per cent, moving ahead of RIM (13.9 per cent) to sit below Symbian,
which will lose some of its 48.1 per cent stronghold by 2012 to claim 37.4 per
cent of the market.

Like Apple and RIM, Google's Android platform has a thriving marketplace of
smartphone applications, which is becoming a key differentiator within the
mobile market, but it is yet to establish a dominant presence here with only 2-3
per cent of the market and only three Android handsets now available.

These are the HTC Dream and Magic, and the Galaxy Icon from Samsung. However,
the stable is set to grow with HTC's new Hero handset due out this month and the
Motorola Cliq is expected to ship before Christmas.

"Android has been around for less than a year and the user interface is not as
fancy or sexy as iPhone, but we expect it to grow quickly with more and more
hardware makers embracing it going forward," Warren Chaisatien, research
director at Telsyte, said.

"We're excited to see just how far the platform has come in one year ... Android
is now on over 10 devices in 26 countries with 32 carriers, in 19 different
languages. As more carriers and handset manufacturers turn to open platforms, we
anticipate this growth will only continue," a Google spokesperson said.

Growth in emerging markets is the key reason that Symbian and Android are likely
to dominate the global market as handset makers there seek cheap, open platforms
on which to develop products, Simpson said.

While Android has always been an open platform, Nokia has also opened up Symbian
to third-party developers.

"There are dozens of Asian and Indian vendors that can address their markets
with a cheap and cheerful operating system," he said.

While there is consensus among researchers that Google's Android is on the
ascendancy, in other respects the Australian smartphone market is likely to defy
global trends, Chaisatien said.

"We see three operating systems competing at the forefront in coming years.
BlackBerry, which is already very strong in the business market, has done a
great job in terms of repositioning themselves to consumers. In number two
position, we see the Apple iPhone, which has made significant gains in the
market in just one year, and in third place we see Google's Android," he said.

While they will not disappear any time soon, Symbian and Microsoft are
considered most at threat from Android and iPhone, and Palm recently pulled out
of the local market altogether, proving how difficult it is to survive in the
cut-throat smartphone world.

"Once upon a time, Palm was very popular but it lost so much market share
because it was not innovating quickly enough. It has pulled back to focus on
markets where it has a strong presence," Simpson said.

(comment on Palm: I am on a Windows Mobile PDA platform. Prior to that I was
running a Palm PDA with PalmOS. PalmOS is so much better, but the range of
suitable PDAs meant that I had to opt for a WinMob solution. It's a shame that
Palm couldn't keep abreast of developments in the smartphone market. We could've
had a greater choice of excellent products to choose from instead of one or two
and the associated high cost of ownership)

--
Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

what's that new Garmin mobile handset like then?


"Marts" <marts@ymail.com> wrote in message
news:dnlfd55vfqsjb5o9u0gg59pi3dl6pd83ps@ymail.com. ..
:
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-lif...1015-gyyf.html
:
:
: Android set to topple iPhone
: LOUISA HEARN
: October 16, 2009 - 11:37AM
:
: iPhone might rule the smartphone sector for now, but market researchers
predict
: that the dominance of Apple's popular handset could be toppled by Google's
: Android mobile platform within three years.
:
: The global sales forecast published by Gartner predicts that in 2012,
Android,
: Symbian (found mainly on Nokia phones) and Research In Motion (BlackBerry)
will
: dominate the mobile operating system market, pushing Apple's iPhone OS into
: fourth position with a 13.6 per cent slice of the market.
:
: "The iPhone is all about user experience but Apple can only produce a small
: number of handsets and not everyone wants an iPhone handset. They will
remain
: strong but they won't take over world," said Robin Simpson, a researcher at
: Gartner.
:
: Android, on the other hand, is expected to lift its market share from 5.1
per
: cent to 18 per cent, moving ahead of RIM (13.9 per cent) to sit below
Symbian,
: which will lose some of its 48.1 per cent stronghold by 2012 to claim 37.4
per
: cent of the market.
:
: Like Apple and RIM, Google's Android platform has a thriving marketplace of
: smartphone applications, which is becoming a key differentiator within the
: mobile market, but it is yet to establish a dominant presence here with
only 2-3
: per cent of the market and only three Android handsets now available.
:
: These are the HTC Dream and Magic, and the Galaxy Icon from Samsung.
However,
: the stable is set to grow with HTC's new Hero handset due out this month
and the
: Motorola Cliq is expected to ship before Christmas.
:
: "Android has been around for less than a year and the user interface is not
as
: fancy or sexy as iPhone, but we expect it to grow quickly with more and
more
: hardware makers embracing it going forward," Warren Chaisatien, research
: director at Telsyte, said.
:
: "We're excited to see just how far the platform has come in one year ...
Android
: is now on over 10 devices in 26 countries with 32 carriers, in 19 different
: languages. As more carriers and handset manufacturers turn to open
platforms, we
: anticipate this growth will only continue," a Google spokesperson said.
:
: Growth in emerging markets is the key reason that Symbian and Android are
likely
: to dominate the global market as handset makers there seek cheap, open
platforms
: on which to develop products, Simpson said.
:
: While Android has always been an open platform, Nokia has also opened up
Symbian
: to third-party developers.
:
: "There are dozens of Asian and Indian vendors that can address their
markets
: with a cheap and cheerful operating system," he said.
:
: While there is consensus among researchers that Google's Android is on the
: ascendancy, in other respects the Australian smartphone market is likely to
defy
: global trends, Chaisatien said.
:
: "We see three operating systems competing at the forefront in coming years.
: BlackBerry, which is already very strong in the business market, has done a
: great job in terms of repositioning themselves to consumers. In number two
: position, we see the Apple iPhone, which has made significant gains in the
: market in just one year, and in third place we see Google's Android," he
said.
:
: While they will not disappear any time soon, Symbian and Microsoft are
: considered most at threat from Android and iPhone, and Palm recently pulled
out
: of the local market altogether, proving how difficult it is to survive in
the
: cut-throat smartphone world.
:
: "Once upon a time, Palm was very popular but it lost so much market share
: because it was not innovating quickly enough. It has pulled back to focus
on
: markets where it has a strong presence," Simpson said.
:
: (comment on Palm: I am on a Windows Mobile PDA platform. Prior to that I
was
: running a Palm PDA with PalmOS. PalmOS is so much better, but the range of
: suitable PDAs meant that I had to opt for a WinMob solution. It's a shame
that
: Palm couldn't keep abreast of developments in the smartphone market. We
could've
: had a greater choice of excellent products to choose from instead of one or
two
: and the associated high cost of ownership)
:
: --
: Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.