Over the past 6 months, the iPhone has been dominating - but a plethora of news that has been coming out appears to indicate that Android is gaining dominance. Some highlights from toda-y Nytimes article:
- Twelve Android handsets have been announced this year, with dozens more expected next year. Motorola has dropped Windows Mobile from its line entirely in a switch to Android. HTC, a major cellphone maker, expects half its phones sold this year to run Android. Dell is using Android for its entry into the cellphone market.
- All four of the largest carriers in the United States have now agreed to offer Android phones. When the first Android handset, the G1 from HTC, was introduced last fall, only T-Mobile offered it. Now, Verizon, the largest carrier, is putting a huge promotional push behind the Droid from Motorola, set to be introduced this week. Even AT&T, the home of the iPhone, recently said it would join the Android party next year.
And at whose expense is this happening:
- Android is on only 1.8 percent of smartphones worldwide, according to Gartner, and Windows Mobile software still dwarfs Android. But Microsoft is slipping. The percentage of smartphones using the Windows Mobile system has plummeted to 9.3 percent, from 12 percent in the second quarter of 2008. Microsoft fell behind Apple, which shot up to 13.3 percent, from 2.8 percent. (Nokia’s Symbian operating system is the world leader, followed by Research In Motion’s OS for its BlackBerrys.)
Why?
- Nevertheless, Android is free, while Windows Mobile costs manufacturers $15 to $25 a phone.
For the full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/26android.html?hpw
