Googles Android Platform On Verge of Smartphone Domination

Google Inc.s mobile operating system, Android, could be on the verge of smartphone domination: A new report from research firm Canalys shows shipments of devices running the Android OS soared 88 percent in the second quarter.

In the United States, Android handsets made by companies including Motorola Inc. and HTC comprised 34 percent market share. Overall, Android grew 851 percent to become the largest smartphone platform in the nation, Canalys said.

The story is similar in Asia Pacific, where China became the worlds second-largest smartphone market in the three months ended June 30. The Google OS reached 7 percent penetration in that country up from zero market share a year earlier.

Still, Android wasnt the only platform to see growth in 2010s second quarter. Nokia, which developed the Symbian OS, remains the No. 1 smartphone vendor and managed to increase its market share by 38 percent. But, Canalys warned, Nokias dominance is not as unassailable as it once was,” with Research In Motion and Googles Android nipping at its heels. iPhone-maker Apple saw worldwide market share of 13 percent for the quarter.

On the whole, Canalys expects smartphones to represent more than 27 percent of mobile-device shipments worldwide by 2013. Some markets in Western Europe will surpass 60 percent, Canalys said, and some in North America will jump 48 percent.

For Google, the news is great. Android didnt even exist two years ago.