Microsoft is set to struggle to regain market share in the Windows mobile phone market with the worldwide mobile operating system market set to be dominated by Symbian and Android, as the two systems go head-to-head in a bid to dominate mobile OS sales by 2014.
Microsoft is set to struggle to regain market share in the Windows mobile phone market with the worldwide mobile operating system market set to be dominated by Symbian and Android, as the two systems go head-to-head in a bid to dominate mobile OS sales by 2014.
Nokia’s Symbian currently has 40.1 percent of the market, according to research firm Gartner, but this is expected to shrink to 30.2 percent by 2014.
Android currently has 17.7 percent, and should grow to 29.6 percent in2014, a shadow behind Symbian.
According to Gartner, Symbian will remain at the top of the researcher’s worldwide OS ranking due to Nokia’s volume and the push into more mass market price points.
But Gartner says the carriers’ marketing and vendor support for Android-based smartphones will drive the platform to become the second-largest platform, following Symbian, by the end of this year – almost two years ahead of Gartner’s prediction a year ago.
“Launches of updated operating systems – such as Apple iOS 4, BlackBerry OS 6, Symbian 3 and Symbian 4, and Windows Phone 7 – will help maintain strong growth in smartphones in 2H10 and 2011 and spur innovation,” says Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner.
“However, we believe that market share in the OS space will consolidate around a few key OS providers that have the most support from (carriers) and developers and strong brand awareness with consumer and enterprise customers.”
Gartner expects manufacturers such as Samsung to launch many new budget Android devices in 2H10 that will drive Android into mass-market segments.
Other players, including Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola, will follow a similar strategy. This trend should help Android become the top OS in North America by the end of 2010.
Gartner predicts that by 2014, open-source platforms will continue to dominate more than 60 percent of the market for smartphones. Single-source platforms, such as Apple’s iOS and RIM’s OS, will increase in unit terms, but their growth rate will be below market average and not enough to sustain share increase.
