Android Will Edge Out iPhone in 2012, Says Analyst

Things expected to happen in 2012: Google’s Android overtakes the iPhone, and there’s an apocalypse. Maybe the former is what the Mayans were talking about all along. In any case, Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney says it’s only a matter of time before Android slides into second place for mobile operating systems, ahead of the iPhone but behind the still-dominant Symbian. He expects Android to have 14.5 percent of the market, compared to the iPhone’s 13.7 percent. Meanwhile, Blackberry and Windows Mobile will languish, Dulaney expects, falling behind the whole pack with 12.5 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively.

Dulaney’s rationale is based on Google’s improvements to both the operating system itself and the Android Market for apps. But I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of the explosion we’re seeing in new Android devices. HTC now has four Android devices, including T-Mobile’s G1. Motorola’s got the CLIQ, and may be unveiling another Android phone for Verizon Wireless soon. Dell’s got an Android phone in China that it may bring to the United States. Verizon Wireless and Google announced that they’ll be developing Android devices together. All of this amounts to a platform that’s going from obscurity to ubiquity. When it comes to market share, that’s how you become huge. [Computerworld via Electronista]