Google's open-source Android will become the number two mobile operating system this year, leapfrogging BlackBerry and challenging market leader Nokia's Symbian by 2014, research firm Gartner said on Sept. 10.
Gartner said Symbian and Android will account for 59.8% of mobile operating system (OS) sales by 2014. "Symbian will remain at the top of Gartner's worldwide OS ranking due to Nokia's volume and the push into more mass market price points," Gartner said.
"However, by the end of the forecast period, the number one spot will be contested with Android, which will be at a very similar share level," it said.
According to Gartner, Symbian will hold a 40.1% OS market share at the end of 2010 followed by Android with 17.7%, Research in Motion's BlackBerry with 17.5%, Apple with 15.4% for the iOS used by the iPhone and Windows Mobile from Microsoft with 4.7%.
By 2014, Symbian's share will fall to 30.2% while Android's will rise to 29.6% followed by Apple with 14.9%, Blackberry with 11.7% and Windows with 3.9%, Gartner forecast.
Symbian last year had a 46.9% share of the OS market followed by Blackberry with 19.9%, Apple with 14.4%, Windows with 8.7% and Android with 3.9%, Gartner said.
Gartner said it expected handset manufacturers such as Samsung to launch a number of budget devices in the second half of the year using Android and for other players such as Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola to follow suit.
"This trend should help Android become the top OS in North America by the end of 2010," Gartner said.
Also on Sept. 10 Nokia named Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft executive, to head the Finnish telecom giant as it battles slumping profits and an eroding market share in the smartphone segment.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
