Android Is The Most Popular Smartphone Platform In Asia

PC World Newsdesk 25 Nov 2010

Google's Android OS has successfully managed to dethrone Symbian as the most popular smartphone OS in Asia for the third quarter of 2010 according to a report by GFK Retail and Technology, a global consumer market research firm.

Frankly, it does not come as a big surprise, especially when one considers the number of smartphones that are adopting Android as the preferred platform. Nokia aside, all the existing as well as new entrants in the Indian market are rolling out Android phones across various price brackets.

The GFK report only considers Q3 2010 and surprisingly there is no explicit mention of India being considered in the research. The survey is split into North Asia and Southeast Asia. Northern Asia refers to Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan and Southeast Asia refers to Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Yes, there is no mention of India under Southeast Asia.

In India, Symbian promoted by Nokia phones might still have the maximum market share, but their hold seems to be loosening rapidly in the smartphone space. Yes, Blackberry seems to be steadily gaining some share away from Symbian by offering more options to buyers along with a clear shift in brand image. But the Google Android OS still is clearly the biggest game changer in the Smartphone market in India. There are close to 50 Android based Smartphones available in India today from eight unique vendor brands. In contrast, Nokia currently offers about 30 smartphones in India as per the same Indian retail site, and this is even after including multiple colour variants of the same Nokia phones!

Nokia seems to be fighting a losing battle, with Symbian as its weapon of choice. The combination of Nokia and Android might prove to be a winning punch in the Indian smartphone arena. Food for thought, Nokia?