Independent telecoms analyst Ovum released forecasts showing the global smartphone market will double in size by 2016. Leading the market will be Android, driving growth as the dominant platform with more than a 20 percent market share lead over number two, Apple’s iOS. Where will Windows Phone and BlackBerry fit in the picture?
Let’s cut to the chase — Android will win by numbers. With dozens of manufacturers, the combined effort is simply too daunting a task for a single company to do battle in the long term. On their own, Apple and BlackBerry should outshine individual manufactures selling Android smartphones, but dominating smartphones is largely about market share.
According to Ovum, smartphones will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.5 percent between 2010 and 2016, representing 40 percent of the mobile phone market. Asia-Pacific will be the largest region, shipping over 200 million units by 2016. Meanwhile, Western Europe and North American will reach 175 million and 165 million shipments respectively.
Now for the 2016 global smartphone market share. Taking home top honors will be Android with 38 percent, followed by Apple’s iOS with 17.5 percent, Windows Phone with 17.2 percent and BlackBerry OS with 16.5 percent. Based on these forecasts, by 2016 — odds are, you’ll probably own an Android smartphone (if you don’t already).
Do you agree with Ovum’s forecast? Will Android really dominate the global smartphone by such a staggering margin by 2016? Let us know what you think.
via Cellular News
