Android to have second-largest market share this year

Analyst firm Gartner has just updated their predictions for the coming years and Android is gaining strength extremely fast. Gartner now predicts that by the end of this year, Android will hold the #2 market share world-wide, second only to Symbian. The numbers predict Android holding 17.7 percent while Symbian reigns supreme with 40.1. Apple and RIM are predicted to be 15.4 and 17.5 respectively.



They predict that by the end of 2014 Android will have caught up with Symbian and be poised to take over. They also say that Android will hold the #1 spot in the USA by the end of this year. [source: Gartner via Android Central]

These numbers pretty much speak for themselves. They're just predictions, of course, and Gartner's previous predictions had Android achieving #2 much later, so the revised numbers show just how quickly Android is gaining market share. Looks like an exciting future for Andy.

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FYI everyone, Symbian=Nokia. I had no idea.
Anyway, that's really awesome. I'm actually kind of surprised Android has beat out Apple and RIM (that would be Blackberry), especially given the sad state some of their phones end up in (ahem, Verizon). But Android is an awesome platform with a lot of potential, and apparently people are noticing. Also, Nokia has a monstrous global impact, so the fact that they predict Android will surpass it in a few years is pretty incredible to me.