Ever since Simon, world’s first Smartphone, by IBM made its entry in 1992, the Smartphone industry has been seeing some quick and rapid advancement in the technology. Today there are quite a number of companies that are running business in Smartphones. Some of the big players are Apple, Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, RIM and Palm. Of late, Google has entered the Smartphone market with its open source Android OS for mobile phones (rumored to be named as Google Phones).
Sales War
So the Smartphone industry is now totally heated up. There are many great companies in the war but which one will be victorious is the big question here. According to a report published by Gartner Research, Symbian OS is touted to lead the way, by 2012, with Android, iPhone OS, Windows Mobile OS and BlackBerry OS following suit. This means we will see more of Google in the coming days. At the moment, Gartner research shows that Nokia is leading the sales of Smartphones as of Q3, 2009 followed by RIM, Apple and HTC. The following table is an excerpt from that very report.
The above figures kind of mirror the future. Nokia phones, which run on Symbian OS, will keep its number one spot in 2012 as well. But the big player which is missing here is Google. By 2012, Android is expected to hit the number two position following Symbian OS.
Android or rather Droid
So the question is how is Google going to make that happen? Well Google is one of the biggest fishes that is out there in the market which is always looking to grow through innovation. Although the initial version of Android laden mobile phones (G1) were not that ground breaking ones and Google’s Android 1.5 didn’t create much of a stir, the new Android 2.0 is expected to change all this.
Motorola is an early adopter of Android 2.0 and has named the entire name of its Smartphone as Motorola Droid. These phones sold in thousands in the US during its first week of debut. With features like real thin QWERTY keyboard, 3.7” touch screen, 5 megapixels camera, 3G and GPS support and of all, Google’s touch, Droid is all set to take the market by its fist. Motorola is already storming the international market with its latest Smartphone entrant in the name of Motorola Milestone. Many experts believe that Droid is a direct competitor to iPhone. The war is on.
What about other Smart competitors?
But Google is not going to get an easy ride to the top position. The ever so innovative Apple will definitely be a tough nut to crack. With a strong arsenal in its armory, in the form of iPhone, Apple is changing to meet the need of its customers. Simple yet attractive UI, meticulous quality and perfect look are some of the key features that will always keep iPhone in the driver’s seat. Despite all these star studded features, iPhone hasn’t really kicked off in India and of late in China. Why? Well it is because the price is expensive as compared to Nokia phones, which are the biggest sellers in India and China. Apart from that, iPhone is not upping its marketing campaign in these areas. Will this change in 2020… we need to wait and watch.
On the other hand, Symbian OS, greatly flanked by Nokia, is making impressive progress worldwide. Nokia Smartphones have a history of good quality; better performance, astronomical sales and sturdiness which have helped it to stand ahead of the competition. Hence, taking all these factors in consideration, Nokia is touted to be the leader in the days to come in Smartphone industry.
Amidst all this, Windows Mobile OS seem to have been losing its charm. Since it is proprietary software from Microsoft, the price tag associated with it has made it less famous amongst the users and developers.
On a parting note, the battle ground Smartphone is all buffed up with array of players. Who will win is the biggest question of the moment? But with Google’s Android 2.0, the Smartphone industry is expected to be more competitive. 2010 will definitely be important in this aspect. It will be interesting to see how Nokia tries to maintain its worldwide leader position while iPhone and Droid try to fight to topple the king.
But for consumer, this is just good. While the players fight out to beat each other, consumers definitely look the ones who are going to be victorious.
10 Responses
It is really the Internet that is driving this forward. Remember that the first smart phones all did horribly but now with the Internet things are different. I just read a new book published by Harvard Business called “Wired for Thought”. THe author argues that the internet is very similar to the brain and projects that mobile will become increasingly important as a way to increase communication and interaction online, and ultimately lead to sensory information. Really interesting and exciting stuff.
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but the phone so smart however nokia h as no,, like i understand multitouch screen with competitio.n.
As soon as the general, phone buying public understands that open source means freedom and choice, Android powered devices will be the clear winner. Why buy a phone where the applications available are dictated by corporate policy? Thats what you get with Rim and the Iphone.
My android phone is absolutely THE coolest gadget I’ve ever had and it is all thanks to the operating system and the open source community behind it.
poorly written article with bad source information. Do you work for a Nokia industry client?
Well, it’s kind of a Airline Magazine over-view of the industry when the truth is that until the iphone arrive, it remained technology stagnant from 2002 to 2007 thanks to Palm, Nokia, MS & even Blackberry’s ineptitude. With he arrivla of Appl’e iphone – mobile websurfer, touchscreens, mobile apps and the ser iterface was a hodge podge of poor design and frankly – ineptitude.
There are now three markets: Apple will win the full price-full margin market, Blackberry will win the enterprse market and Android will win the low margin market. The problem is that with 20 companies selling Android, it will be a splintered marketplace with competing messages and as already, Verizon is starting the BUY ONE, GET ONE deal …
Basically, there’s a lot more going on in the market.
This article is garbage. Don’t quit your day job.
“Google has entered the Smartphone market with its open source Android OS for mobile phones (rumored to be named as Google Phones).”
Theres no such thing as a google phone.
-Android is not MADE by google, google purchased and owns the firm that developes it.
Android is made by the OHA
Google basically funds it.
wow. the author obviously hasnt had any hands-on with a windows mobile phone.
i run and love linux on my computer. so, no windows fan here. but, i am a fan of their mobile os and their willingness to let developers mess with the OS and release all different versions tweaked to the max.
there are all different apps avail for the phone thru different websites. windows own app store has like only 50 apps. but who needs that when their are plenty of other sites.
i bought the google MyPhone from tmobile. sent it back and went back to my old phone in a week.
the google mytouch does not allow you to send any attachments in an email besides pictures.
that is unbelievable. you can not send any documents. or any other kind of attachment. perhaps they have changed their policy.
This article is horribly written and does not cite any credible sources whatsoever. Complete load of rubbish…
3/4 of world’s population is in Asia and so the smartphone users. Nokia is doing a great job in responding to customers’ needs from Asia. Asian smartphone users unlike the rest of the western world, like nokia because of price and familiarity with symbian OS. That’s why APPLE, RIM, GOOGLE and the rest should do something. Price is the main factor. For example, here in Saudi Arabia, iphone 3GS unlock has an astronomical price tag of 4,500 saudi riyals or 1,200 US dollars.