If there are still doubts about the Android juggernaut, the latest numbers from Google should help settle it. Some 200,000 new Android devices are being sold each day, up from about 100,000 just two months ago, says Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Schmidt told attendees at the Techonomy conference, “Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate.”
Google’s comment comes on the heels of data from Nielsen earlier this week that showed, for the first time, that people in the U.S. bought more Android phones than iPhones.
Research firm iSuppli predicts Android’s market share will surpass that of the iPhone’s iOS in 2012.
By 2012, Android will be used in 75 million smartphones, up from 5 million in 2009, says iSuppli. IOS will be in 62 million phones in 2012, up from 25 million in 2009.
That means in two years, android will have a 19.4 percent market share worldwide among smartphone operating systems, up from 2.7 percent in 2009. Apple’s iOS for the iPhone will see its share go up to 15.9 percent in 2012 from 13.8 percent in 2009, says iSuppli.
Android’s rapid growth should come as no surprise to industry watchers. Since Google worked with HTC and T-Mobile to launch the first Android-based smartphone in 2008, the open-source operating system has been adopted by major handset manufacturers including Samsung, Motorola and HTC.
“The OS started with entry-level models in 2008, but the flexibility Android offers for hardware designs and its appealing business model in terms of revenue sharing have attracted vigorous support,” says Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications for iSuppli.
