Android to rival Symbian as smartphone OS king

The Symbian and Android mobile operating systems will dominate the smartphone market in the next three years, according to Gartner.

The analyst firm said in a new report that Symbian sales to end users will increase from 107 million to 264 million by 2014.

However, this will actually represent a drop in market share from 40.1 per cent to 30.2 per cent, because of the tremendous growth of Android, which is forecast to claim 29.6 per cent market share by 2014.

Report author Roberta Cozza told V3.co.uk that the introduction of mid- and low-tier smartphones from key vendors will fuel this growth.

"Firms such as Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson will drive a surge in Android by reducing the cost of devices that are currently available and increasing sales massively," she said.

"Currently only 19 per cent of all phones sold are smartphones, but we expect this to be 80 per cent by 2014."

Other major operating systems are also set to grow in terms of sales, but most will see a decline in market share. Apple's iOS is expected to have a 14.9 per cent share of the market by 2014, down 0.5 per cent from 2010.

"Apple will see good growth for its platform in the coming few years, but it won't be able to keep pace with the market's growth as a whole," explained Cozza.

Research in Motion (RIM), meanwhile, will also see a drop-off in sales, falling from 17.5 per cent to 11.7 per cent in 2014, while Windows Mobile will end up with just 3.9 per cent market share by 2014, according to Gartner.

"Microsoft and RIM face a big challenge as consumer and enterprise demands for devices become more aligned. Devices like the iPhone are being brought into businesses, undermining the firms' previous key selling positions," she said.

"Windows Mobile in particular could suffer due to the fact Microsoft still charges a licence for its use, unlike the free systems of Symbian and Android or the closed systems of RIM and Apple, which is squeezing out the value of its platform."