Mobile phones using the Android operating system will eventually be huge, even if the number of Android smartphones shipped in 2009 doesn't grow by 900% as a research firm recently predicted.
At some point, Android phones will outpace the iPhone, which has already shipped more than 21 million units since first appearing in June 2007, said analysts from Strategy Analytics of Newton, Mass. When this will happen is unknown, although it certainly won't happen this year or even in 2011.
The 900% Android growth, predicted in a recent report by Tom Kang, an analyst at Strategy Analytics, is based on Android's introduction in 2008 in the U.S., and also how fast it is spreading into Europe and Asia this year.
Android will expand from a low base, which partly accounts for the 900% figure, but underlying factors such as the fact the Android is open source and that it has the support of many smartphone device makers and carriers, put it in a good position for growth, Strategy said. It also helps that Google Inc., the most prominent backer of Android, is also supporting cloud computing services that will be used by Android phones.
In an interview, Alex Spektor also of Strategy Analytics, said the firm had pegged 800,000 Android smartphones shipped in 2008, including the G1 from HTC that's sold by T-Mobile USA. By the end of 2009, however, Strategy is predicting that 8 million Android devices will ship, he said.
The next new Android shipment will be from Samsung Electronics Co. for the i7500 Android-based smartphone to be sold in western Europe this summer, Spektor said. Motorola Inc. has also committed to selling Android devices by year's end in many parts of the world. HTC is providing two Android smartphones to Rogers Wireless in Canada starting June 2 as well. Huawei Technologies Co. is also expected to sell Android phones in China this year, analysts said.
Even though HTC makes the G1, the second version of the hardware is rumored to be coming from either Motorola or Samsung, although neither the manufacturers nor T-Mobile would comment.