Shamelessly stolen from the brilliant GIGAOM blog, thought this is a great graphic to show the dramatic shift in the past 3 years in the smartphone mobile OS market.
There are a few noticeable and obvious trends (namely rise of RIM, Apple and Android, fall of Windows and Linux), but I honestly believe this year will throw up several more surprise. Keep an eye out for:
The rebirth of Windows Phone – This will depend on the time of its official launch, but after the positive reception at and post MWC, it is clear that it will start to reclaim some of that last market share. This may not be too evident until 2011 however, with a proposed Q4 2010 launch.
The Android explosion continues – 2009 was very much a testing the water year fro Android, with the high profile Motorola Droid, Nexus One and HTC Hero all contributing to a jump in share, however 2010 will be the year when Android is a success based on the broad range of other handsets it will feature on. I expect an even more significant leap this year.
Symbian stability – Despite receiving several body blows in the form of the iPhone and Blackberry, I still expect due to their huge huge sales figures for Symbian not to make its fall from grace just yet. It will take a lot more than a few rivals to bring down this behemoth.
Verizon Wireless has been heavily seeding the net with virals for its Motorola Android handset in the past week, and is certainly sparking some controversy! It has a few digs at the iPhone and goes further to demonstrate Motorola’s strong support for the Android OS. iPhone might be a little worried about the emergence of Android, and the commitment made by the members of the Open Handset Alliance, but I for one do not believe a Motorola handset will take away the iPhone’s crown. But in the meantime I am enjoying watching the industry give Apple a gentle kick in the nuts.
Some smart alec Apple fan boy has replied with their very own take on the Droid Does viral. (read more…)
The customisable, interchangeable mobile phone cover was a real fad in the early days of mobile going mainstream. I fondly remember my Homer Simpson X-Press On cover for my Nokia 3210, which I eventually swapped for a ‘blingy’ mirror effect case with jewel like buttons. I disgust myself when I think about it. What we must remember was that back in the day, this was how we customised our mobiles! Long before applications, downloadable images, and even ring tones, the interchangeable cover was our way of expressing who we were via our mobile. But as the industry matured, it was recognised that people didn’t care about changing their handset aesthetics….or do they? (read more…)
So after much anticipation, Vodafone 360 has landed! V360 integrates a host of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, and includes a store of applications that will eventually be available to the company’s more than 315 million global customers.
It will replace the Vodafone Live suite of mobile internet services, which was heralded as the company’s most important launch ever when it was unveiled seven years ago but has been made to look “tired” by the recent proliferation of mobile applications and the success of devices such as the iPhone, Palm Pre and handsets using Google’s Android software. (read more…)
