If market research firm Informa Telecoms & Media’s crystal ball is correct, Android mobiles will outsell the Apple iPhone by 2012. The shift is being attributed to a growing focus on software over hardware.
To date, there is only one Android device on the market but that is set to change quickly. A second device, the HTC Magic, is on its way next month and more (from HTC, Sony Ericsson and others) will follow later this year. Google could simply end up winning this one on critical mass alone.
The biggest loser in all this could be Symbian. In the last year alone, Symbian smartphones lost about 16 percent of market share, falling from 65 percent in 2007 to 49 percent in 2008. A switch to open source should help stem this loss though but competition from Android, the iPhone, and other mobile operating systems will remain fierce.