Android set to lead business and consumer markets

Google's platform to overtake competitors over next five years, says analyst

Google's Android mobile operating system is set to become the platform of choice for most businesses as well as consumers, and on smartphones as well as tablets, according to research from analyst Ovum.

It predicts that over the next five years Android will take 38 per cent of the smartphone market share, while Apple will take just 17.5 per cent.

And while the most popular tablet device on the market is Apple's iPad, Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach said he expects Android to overtake Apple in terms of market share.

"Android does not have the same kind of restrictions other platforms have," he said.

"Android is one of the few multi-vendor platforms on the market. This makes it more popular than the proprietary alternatives."

He added that Symbian and LiMo were two alternative open-source mobile operating systems but that these failed to take off in the market.

"The platform is attractive because of Google's ability to get third-party developers to build apps, as well as the open-source nature of Google, meaning mobile manufacturers will be able to make changes if they want to."

He went on to say that Android also presents opportunities for other enterprise vendors to get into the smartphone and tablet markets, as the platform is customisable – as evidenced by Cisco and its latest Cius tablet.

"Cisco has adapted the Android platform and built in enterprise-level requirements and policies that are needed. That is one of the advantages of using Android: the ability to adjust and build in features, and not rely on proprietary manufacturers to do that for you," he said.