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Google Android predicted to overtake iPhone by 2012

Although the Symbian operating system (OS) is likely to remain the dominant one in the smartphone market, Google's Android is predicted to more than quadruple its market share by the end of 2012.

That's according to IT analyst Gartner, which notes that Android's market share stood at 1.6 per cent during the first three months of 2009, but expects it to reach 14.5 per cent in three years' time.

The group also predicts that Apple's share of the smartphone OS market will increase during the period, but from 10.8 per cent to 13.7 per cent.

Gartner's Ken Dulaney attributes Android's predicted success to the support, wide range of apps and cloud computing functions offered by Google.

"Google's other up-and-coming consumer and enterprise products should make [Android] a dominant platform," he tells Computerworld, emphasising that improvements to Android's application store and development environment will be "backed by the power of Google's search engine".

Another advantage for Android identified by Gartner is the fact it will run on phones from several manufacturers, in contrast to the Apple iPhone.

In the analysts' forecast for the smartphone OS market by the end of 2012, Symbian is predicted to have sold 203 million devices, Android nearly 76 million and the iPhone 71.5 million.