Is the iPhone becoming passe? That’s the belief of one analyst predicting Google’s Android will surpass both Apple’s handset and Nokia in 2011. “The iPhone was last year’s device and now people are looking for something different,” the IDC analyst told Bloomberg.
Android’s move shouldn’t come as a surprise; Apple’s handset had just a one percent lead (24 percent versus 23 percent) over the Android platform in the third quarter of 2010. The Samsung Galaxy S, with 14 percent of all Android-based shipments, is seen as delivering an iPhone-like experience with a lower price, according to the research firm’s Francisco Jeronimo.
In terms of individual handset makers, HTC led the Android pack in Europe with 39 percent while Sony Ericsson had 27 percent.
In the U.S., Android is also threatening Apple’s iOS. Earlier this year, retail analysis firm NPD announced Android sold 28 percent of American smartphones, versus 21 percent for the iPhone. RIM still led both at 36 percent of U.S. handset sales. The Android’s gains are often seen as propelled by wider distribution. Apple has just one handset and one carrier in the U.S., while multiple handsets and carriers offer Android-based handsets domestically.
