Report: Google Android-Based Phone Shipments to Grow 900 Percent in 2009

With the meteoric rise of Apple’s (News - Alert) iPhone 3G, and an online App Store business model that’s spawned copycats throughout the industry, more and more developers find themselves facing a catch-22 when it comes to producing applications.

 

While the iPhone is a popular device with a highly visible store, Apple sells applications at a very low price, of which the developer gets about 70 percent. Other storefronts don’t sell as many applications, but developers can earn more per transaction.

 

The iPhone’s success has created a sort of “halo” effect for the rest of the industry, where developers working on non-Apple platforms are benefitting because more consumers are aware of smartphones.

 

More and more, handset vendors such as RIM and Nokia (News - Alert) – who now have launched their own virtual storefronts – are eyeing the cloud as the foundation of their business models.

 

For a few months, now, analysts have been calling for flexible open source platforms to fuel sales of smartphones, which some say will double their share of the entire cell phone market by 2013. That’s excellent news for companies such as Rogers Wireless, which last week became Canada’s exclusive carrier for two Google (News - Alert) Android-based devices.

 

Recently, IT market research firm Strategy Analytics put a hard number behind the trend: global Android smartphone shipments will grow 900 percent this year.

 

Officials at the international firm, whose U.S. headquarters are in Boston, say support from developers, vendors and operators is driving adoption of the open source devices.

 

Tom Kang, the Strategy Analytics analyst who authored “Global Smartphone Vendor Market Share by Region: 2008,” said the Android mobile OS gained traction in the United States during the second half of last year.

 

“Android is expanding from a low base and it is consequently outgrowing the iPhone OS from Apple, which we estimate will grow at a relatively lower 79 percent annually in 2009,” Kang said.

 

Global smartphone shipments hit about 152 million units worldwide in 2008, growing at an annual rate of about 20 percent despite the recession. The Asia-Pacific remains the largest market for smartphones, with North America and western Europe coming in second and third, respectively. At the same time, Symbian has lost market share while RIM Blackberry last year overtook Microsoft (News - Alert) Windows Mobile as the second-largest smartphone OS.

 

But no platform will spread at a faster rate, Strategy Analytics sys, than Android.

 

The firm’s director, Neil Mawston, said Android’s relatively low-cost licensing model, semi-open-source structure and Google’s support for cloud services have encouraged companies such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung (News - Alert), T Mobile, Vodafone and others to support the Android operating system.

 

“Android is now in a good position to become a top-tier player in smartphones over the next two to three years,” Mawston said.