Report: Android leads smartphone market in first quarter
By
Nigel Brooks
May 5, 2011 -
Spetnik Technology News
Android posted the largest growth in the smartphone OS market in the first quarter of 2011.
Led by Google's mobile operating system Android, the worldwide smartphone market posted strong growth in the first quarter of 2011, increasing 83 percent from the same period last year, according to a new report from Canalys.
Android, which has seen rapid growth since its introduction in 2008, led the market for the second consecutive quarter, increasing its share to 35 percent, the research firm noted. Overall, smartphone shipments reached 101 million units, 35.7 million of which were Android-based devices.
While Asia-Pacific has become the largest regional smartphone market, the United States remains the largest single country for smartphone shipments, the report found. Android captured 49 percent of the U.S. market share for the quarter, though Apple posted strong figures as well, with 150 percent growth year-on-year.
Though Google's Android has been on the market for a shorter time than many competing mobile operating systems, including Apple's iOS and Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS, its open-source license makes it an attractive software for smartphone makers and app developers. According to Gartner, Android will account for nearly half of the global smartphone OS market by 2013.
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Android, which has seen rapid growth since its introduction in 2008, led the market for the second consecutive quarter, increasing its share to 35 percent, the research firm noted. Overall, smartphone shipments reached 101 million units, 35.7 million of which were Android-based devices.
While Asia-Pacific has become the largest regional smartphone market, the United States remains the largest single country for smartphone shipments, the report found. Android captured 49 percent of the U.S. market share for the quarter, though Apple posted strong figures as well, with 150 percent growth year-on-year.
Though Google's Android has been on the market for a shorter time than many competing mobile operating systems, including Apple's iOS and Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS, its open-source license makes it an attractive software for smartphone makers and app developers. According to Gartner, Android will account for nearly half of the global smartphone OS market by 2013.
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