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| Google CEO Eric Schmidt holds a prototype of the Android Gingerbread smartphone during the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, California November 15, 2010. Schmidt on Monday said the next version of Android, called Gingerbread, will come out within the next few weeks, and will support NFC technology. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Google's Android is now leading the smartphone operating system pack as its shipments of smartphones outnumbered all competitiors in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to market research company Canalys Monday.
The last quarter shipments of Android-powered smartphones reached 32.9 million, beating the longstanding leader Symbian with its 31 million shipments.
In terms of market share, Android grew 615 percent from 2009 to take 32.5 percent, while Symbian fell from 44.4 percent to 30.6 percent in the same period.
Although Nokia still retains a big lead as the largest handset maker in the world, Google's Android is now the reigning OS.
According to Canalys, Apple's iOS fell to third, at 16 percent, remaining practically flat year-over-year. Shipments increased 86 percent, however, to 16.2 million iPhones.
RIM's BlackBerry share dropped from 20 percent to 14.4, despite seeing a reasonably strong 35 percent growth in shipments.
(Agencies)
