Android Sales Surge, but Threats Loom

From PC World: Google's Android looks unstoppable, with quarterly sales steamrolling the iPhone in the U.S. and now Windows Mobile globally, but it's only the eye of the storm for the young operating system.

Gartner's latest statistics show big gains for Android's quarterly sales worldwide, jumping from 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 9.6 percent during the same period this year. That puts the OS ahead of Microsoft's Windows Mobile, but still behind the iPhone, Blackberry, and Symbian phones. Besides Android, only the iPhone has gained sales share since Q1 2009, says Gartner.

Still, Android has benefited from a lull in the competition that dates back to Apple's last iPhone launch, and this year will see threats to Google's smartphone platform from all corners. Google's ride to the top -- Gartner believes Android will take second place in global market share in two years -- won't be so smooth with these developments on the horizon:

We know plenty about Apple's next iPhone thanks to Gizmodo's purchase of a prototype. If Apple does release an iPhone with a front-facing camera, higher-resolution screen, and custom processor, it'll create the summer sales spike to which we've grown accustomed.

View: Article @ Source Site