25 January 2010

Android No 2 Mobile OS By 2013, Says Report

Android will experience the fastest growth of any mobile operating system and will be second in shipment numbers by 2013, according to a report by market research company IDC.

In addition, by 2013 worldwide shipments of converged mobile devices, also known as smartphones, will surpass 390 million units, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.9% for the 2009–2013 forecast period, according to a forecast by IDC.
"Mobile operating systems have become the key ingredient in the highly competitive mobile device market. Although the overall look and feel of the device will still play an important role in the buying process, the wrong choice of operating system coupled with an awkward user interface can mean the difference between success and failure," explained Stephen D. Drake, vice president, Mobility and Telecom at IDC.

Starting from a very small base of just 690,000 units in 2008, total Android-powered shipments will reach 68.0 million units by 2013, making for a CAGR of 150.4%. Android will benefit from having a growing footprint of handset vendors supporting it and will finish second to Symbian in shipments by 2013, concluded IDC in its market forecast.

Android is an open-source platform for mobile devices from the Open Handset Alliance (OHA).  Android has been designed for, tested, and shipped on the ARM architecture.