Did Android just become the world’s no. 1 smartphone platform?

Florin  By on 31 Jan 11

A few days ago, we’ve reported that Nokia sold 28.3 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Now Reuters says that, according to Canalys, the number of Android smartphones sold in the same quarter was 32.9 million.

This, of course, means that it has finally happened (now, not next year or in 2014): Symbian is no longer the world’s no. 1 smartphone platform. Google’s Android is.

But this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. After all, important handset makers like Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC and Sony Ericsson have all embraced Android as one of their platforms of choice. Plus, manufactures like Huawei and ZTE have also started to produce and sell various low-cost Android handsets (according to DigiTimes, shipments of ultra-cheap Androids could reach 25 million units this year).

I don’t think Nokia has what it takes to become no. 1 again, not this year, when its new high-end platform – MeeGo – has little chances to make a great impact (since we don’t even know when the first MeeGo smartphones will be launched). Of course, I may be wrong. Time will tell.

Share on Tumblr

If you liked the post, you might find these interesting too:

  • Anonymous

    You are mistaken.

    Growth numbers per quarter are not the size of the platform.

    I’m and Android user and Symbian is in utter tatters, but Symbian as total platform is still bigger.

    It’s just that Android went past in quarterly sales numbers, which will eventually lead to Android being a bigger installed user base.

    But not yet.

  • http://www.unwiredview.com Florin

    There’s no doubt the total number of Symbian smartphones existent (and sold throughout the years) is still higher than the total number of Android smartphones.

    But the news refers to Q4 2010 numbers – when Android did overtake Symbian as the world’s largest smartphone OS. And I’m pretty sure this year things will stay the same.

  • http://www.facebook.com/garen.yondem Garen Yöndem

    In my opinion, manufacturers are not supporting Android software as much as Nokia did for Symbian… Android is growing by user experiences and talents so it could not last long…

  • Anonymous

    Nope, that’s not what the numbers say.

    The numbers say that more Android devices were sold in Q4/2010 than Symbian devices.

    But the total aggregate number of installed Symbian phones is still bigger than Android devices – even right after Q4/2010 (to the extent we can actually know this, as they are all estimates based on aggregate volumes sold during some period).

  • http://twitter.com/NotRahmEmanuel NOT RahmEmanuel

    OK, but the whole question is academic. If you go by installed base, would you like to bet Motorola’s RAZR is still in the top 10? Same goes for the ubiquitous Sidekick. But even if people are still using them, it means nothing. Sales – and, more importantly, activations – of Android phones are increasing at a rate that no other platform can hope to match.

    And let’s note that this is happening despite Nokia/Symbian’s plainly dominant market-saturation (with highest brand-name recognition) world-wide. Meanwhile, in Europe, it’s been less than 6 months since buyers were given a decent number of Android handsets to choose from. Worse for Symbian, Android is only just now becoming widely available in China and the Asian subcontinent.

    In other words, Symbian is definitely number 2…they just don’t know it, yet.

  • Idir

    Get lost with android

  • Idir

    Get lost with android

« »

Subscribe to our Twitter updatesVisit us on FacebookVisit us on GooglePlusSubscribe via RSS