Android poised to overtake Symbian as smartphone leader

But Windows Phone 7 faces an uphill battle to attract customers, says Canalys

Google's Android operating system has now claimed a quarter of the global smartphone market, and will continue to grow twice as quickly as its competitors despite concerns of platform fragmentation, according to a forecast from Canalys.

The operating system had a memorable 2010, seeing shipments grow by more than 1,000 per cent during the first three quarters. Some 20 million Android devices shipped worldwide in the third quarter alone.

Android is still associated with fragmentation owing to the fast pace of software upgrades, but analysts at Canalys expect growth to continue as the pace of these updates slows down.

Overall, 80.9 million smartphone were shipped worldwide in the third quarter. Symbian retained its position as global market leader with a 37 per cent share, followed by Android on 25 per cent.

However, Symbian struggled in the UK where its market share dipped to just 20 per cent, showing a sign of things to come, according to Canalys.

Apple's iOS ended the quarter leading the UK market with a 30 per cent share, while BlackBerry came in with 23 per cent and Android with 22.5 per cent.

The success of Android in the US and UK was put down to support from major manufacturers and networks, as well as the range of high-end and low-end devices on offer, Tim Shepherd, an analyst at Canalys, told V3.co.uk.

Android poised to overtake Symbian as smartphone leader

But Windows Phone 7 faces an uphill battle to attract customers, says Canalys

"The portfolio of Android devices on offer is growing and there are incredible alternatives to the iPhone. The Google-based devices are also aggressively priced and allow users to purchase their first smartphone," he said.

"Android is likely to have its best year to date in terms of volume as operators and manufacturers continue supporting the platform. We expect it to overtake Symbian as the number one operating system soon."

Although Android has grown phenomenally since its launch in 2008, there is still room on the market for other platforms, Shepherd continued, pointing to Samsung's success with its "pet project", the Bada platform.

The Samsung Wave shipped in good volumes and the manufacturer is likely to use the operating system to boost its low-end portfolio, Shepherd said.

Canalys also expects Nokia to launch a number of exciting devices using its MeeGo platform, which is likely to have strong operator support.

However, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform faces an uphill battle as the brand does not resonate with users as much as Google's and Apple's, Shepherd warned.

"Microsoft has committed a huge resources to Windows Phone 7 and, although it has a credible and strong platform, the biggest challenge will be to encourage its OEM partners to continue manufacturing devices," he said.

"With Microsoft not allowing vendors to ship devices with overlays, they are limited to differentiating device through hardware, colour schemes and preloaded applications. This is difficult to do and makes it harder to attract customers. "