Not only did we have a new phone maker enter into the top 5, but also, based on this report by Canalys, it seems that we had a changing of the guards of sorts as far as the leading smartphone OS goes back in Q4 of 2010 as well.
Nokia’s Symbian has been dethroned as the no. 1 OS with Google’s Android taking over the reigns. Android had 32.9% market share in Q4, which is a significant improvement over their performance back in the same period in 2009 wherein they only had 8.7% market share. Symbian, on the other hand, lost some ground from a high of 44.4% in Q4 2009 to just 30.6% in Q4 2010 even though they actually sold more units in 2010. Apple also had a pretty good Q4 2010 as they overtook RIM who fell to number 4. Microsoft rounds up the top 5, though it’s evident they’re not much of a threat as they’ve still got a long way to go before they can catch up with the rest of the pack.
Unless Nokia manages to make headway this 2011, which we’re doubting since we haven’t seen anything really worth looking forward to from Espoo so far, Android looks poised to remain as the top OS this 2011 with their strong line-up of offerings already showcased at CES with more to follow at the MWC. If this isn’t enough of a wake-up call for Nokia, I don’t know what is.
