Google Android software platform rose to No. 2 spot globally
on the booming smartphone market in the third quarter, research firm Canalys
said on Monday . Nokia Symbian continued to lead the market with a 37% share,
while Android had 17% of the market. It has surpassed Research In Motion, Apple
and Microsoft this year.
Growing popularity of Android phones—made by companies
including Motorola Inc, HTC and Samsung Electronics—puts Google in a good
position as handsets look set to surpass computers for browsing the Web.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in September he expects mobile
searches to generate most of the firm's revenue eventually, but it could take a
long time, despite growing at a rapid clip.
Android software, offered free to cellphone vendors , has
experienced dramatic growth since coming to market two years ago. Last quarter
it saw a 14-fold growth from very low levels a year ago, Canalys said.
Helped by the surge of Android phones, cheaper smartphones
are becoming increasingly the growth engine of the overall smartphone market,
the researcher said. "We are seeing more volume going into the midand
lower-tier . We have reached a tipping point, smartphones are no longer the
high-tier product," said analyst Pete Cunningham.
"Operators are looking to push smartphones into prepay
market as these phones are generating a lot of data traffic revenues,"
Cunningham said. This opens a new, large market for smartphones which have been
sold on many developed markets mostly with monthly contracts.
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