iPhone is still beating Android in Europe despite the Google OS overtaking it in the US, according to the latest count by the market research boffins at Gartner. Symbian and Blackberry are still ahead of both of them. Dive into the figures and you’ll find the future doesn’t look so bright for Microsoft…
Gartner says twice as many iPhones flew off the shelves as Android handsets across Europe in the first quarter of 2010 helping Apple retain its spot as the third biggest seller of smartphones worldwide. Meanwhile Android leapfrogged over Windows Mobile to come in at number 4 with phones like the HTC Desire helping to deliver 5.2 million sales.
Symbian is still by far the largest smartphone OS. 24.1m Symbian-toting handsets were sold in during the same period but its market share is slipping, dropping from 48.8 percent to 44.3 percent. That’s hardly a massive decline and we’ve got our fingers crossed that Symbian 3 and the Nokia N8 will deliver.
Blackberry maker RIM is still holding on to the number 2 spot and also has the potential to deliver something exciting with the Blackberry 6 OS. It’s Microsoft that really needs to worry having dropped into 5th place with Windows Mobile phones shifting just 3.7 million units. Windows Phone 7 really needs to pull out the stops.
Make your prediction: do you think iPhone 4.0 will keep Apple ahead of Android? Or does the sheer variety of Google OS-packing handsets mean the ‘droid is destined to win?
Out now | £free | Gartner