Reports came in that in the 4th quarter of 2010, Google’s Android mobile operating system surpassed that of Nokia’s Symbian in terms of smartphone shipments worldwide. I think there wasn’t any doubt this would eventually happen.
Smartphones with Android OS shipped a total of 32.9 million during the last quarter of 2010 while Symbian-powered smartphones only accounted for 31 million.
I think there wasn’t any doubt that Android would eventually exceed the number of installs on smartphones compared to Symbian. Symbian is only being shipped with Nokia hardware and no other devices (Samsung & Sony-Ericsson abandoned the OS in favor of Android) while Google’s Android is being used by a huge number of handset manufacturers — from Motorola, SE, LG, Dell, Samsung up to the less known players like ZTE, Huawei and the likes.
This is going to be a great partnership. The world’s leading phone manufacturer with an awesome OS. It will get better and better. Just look at iOS. When it was released it was laughable and now it is rockin. What is the point of being so disappointed? Just give it some time and we will definitely see success.
I think Nokia has the license to customize WP7 now, which is a good thing. Actually, they claim they’ll be working in partnership with MS to that purpose. So, I’m already assuming that the WP7 OS we’ll find on Nokia phones will be to some degree different (albait compatible, I really hope) from the one on other hardware producers.
I also think it will be quite likely we’ll see other features I can’t really understand why are currently missing in WP7, such as thetering and Sync with Outlook.
In other words, I think this degree of exclusivity may be enough to generate that uniqueness that is indeed needed to compete against the iPhone.
Look What Windows Phone Engineering offer ideas on building the next great mobile software developer opportunity: http://www.forum.nokia.com/nokia-microsoft.xhtml
hi sir yuga! i think it’s also time worthy blogging this:
http://symbian-freak.com/news/011/02/nokia_and_symbian_still_lead_but_continued_to_lose.htm
in gist (talking of d above link): symbian still the no. 1 smartphone OS worldwide in 2010
Symbian = 37.6%
Android = 22.7%
RIM = 16%
iOS = 15.7%
Microsoft = 4.2%
Other OSs = 3.8%
Kudos to Marco for his technical knowledge. Great job! Hang-on here from time to time para naman matauhan yung mga nagkukunwari dyan:D
@ Turds. It so true that Nokia are getting hammered by the crap American bloggers. iOS and Android are just shiny UI but feature for feature they can’t beat Symbian. Let’s wait sometime in summer when new Symbian UI comes out. They are slaved by the operators here (ssshhh they don’t know it so they are raped too)
oh your name’s ‘TON’, sorry…
@tom You know, i’ve been using an operamobile browser eversince. Just for the reason that it is more usable and, i have to admit, just for occasional tricks for free internet. But i agree that the default browser is a pain to use. That’s basically where symbian suffers: USABILITY.
Perhaps because it’s unoptimized for touch screen phones. Perhaps avkon and C++ is too damn hard to develop for(? no i’m not a developer, so i can’t be that sure ) That’s where my hopes for QT comes from. The recent nokia bubble app is a proof that you can have buttery smooth experience on symbian too.
As for android doing something symbian can’t – well, that can’t be true. Maybe you’re talking about apps, and not the core OS? Application serves as functionality extensions. Can’t blame you for thinking that way though, there are indeed hundred thousands of apps for android when ovi store can’t barely reach half of what market offers. That surely counts big time for modern smartphone users. For that matter, i agree with you once more.
Well at least you’re not clueless on what you’re talking about. Unlike the one who call those who buy symbian dumb.
The OS shift comes from shift of use. Symbian, IMHO, just cant deliver a rich enough web experience that Android, iOS (or even bada) delivers. Take it side by side, and use a “can your phone do this” test, and I’m certain the result wouldn’t shock anybody.
That being said, I use two phones now. My e72 for hardcore business communication…and that’s because I know this thing will do its job for years to come.
And then I use my Optimus One for my personal line…and that’s because its fun, fast, and it can do a ton of things the other one cant.
nemory, no offence pero basa basa ka muna bago maniwala sa mga pinagsasabi ng mga taga america. Cliffhanger yung statement ni Elop. Kaya kung ano anong interpretasyon ang lumabas.
May pagka anti-Nokia po ang mga US blogs at media. Ewan na lang kung tutularan na ni yuga ang Engadget at Gizmodo.
P.s. Americans are slave to telcos. Hehe.
Exactly, unlike nokia, they don’t have a long term interest on symbian. When symbian stopped having a good hold on people’s fantasies because of the growing popularity of android, other manufacturers halted on supporting the platform for they are not that well bonded with the symbian foundation to still continue being on their side even when android serve their needs best by giving them more freedom on customization part. That includes android’s high requirements. Manufacturer like samsung cannot use their advanced chipsets on symbian, not that it can’t be supported but rather, symbian isn’t just built to be a resource hog like android. Also, a good point worth mentioning is symbian’s poor optimization of touch controls to navigate the UI. It’s one of the major reasons why it sank on popularity in contrast with android that’s built from base to top to run on touchscreen.
On the other hand, Nokia knows that if they succeed on creating their own ecosystem like apple had with their IOS, it will be a long term benefit for their company. They are not interested on being just a hardware manufacturer and an android slave. They yearn the best of both worlds, earning on the software as well on the hardware part. As a result, people will start looking for a nokia phone not just because of their hardware but because of the OS that can only be found on their products. When you are looking for an android phone, you have to choose among htc, sammy, se, motorola etc, whereas a symbian/meego phone can only be found on nokia as ios can only be found on apple iphone. See the difference? In fact, even samsung shows interest on having their own ecosystem, remember BADA OS? I can list many advantages a system that’s controlled by a hardware manufacturer brings, but i dare not for this post is getting longer.
Nokia’s strategy is not that hard to understand. However, only time will tell if it will succeed. With the amazing possibilities that QT, being a common denominator between symbian and meego, offers to developers and end users, it’s not hard to assume that the future for nokia is brighter than those of whom who jumped on android’s bandwagon.
Nokia is not yet fighting for survival. Nokia is a big company, they still sell more phones than any other manufacturer. A year long lag from failing to deliver a true flagship device does not necessarily call for desperate measures. Especially if we’re going to assume that the lag is not a lag at all but rather a year-long hard work by nokia’s R&D division.
All these discussions are making me more excited for MWC. :D
If n9 will not be announced, i might buy an xperia arc instead. See? I’m not a symbian fanboy(before any speculation occurs) I just need a high-end phone badly! And there’s no high-end phone on symbian or even nokia’s portfolio so far.
nokia still rules on dumbphones
Samsung left Symbian for Android. Why? They are after for earning and sales so they have to go with the bandwagon. They also have to beat Nokia on its top position.
But haven’t anyone asked why didn’t Nokia grab a slice of Android for the past 2 years? It is because Nokia is intelligent enough to innovate with its OS and utilize its R&D machineries, bigger than Apple or Sammy. Android is attractive, but functionalities are lacking, just like iOS which I am currently using. Have been trying Galaxy S and iPhone 4 these days, and the UI are inevitably tempting. But Nokia has its last step to beat these guys, UI Improvement that is too easy for them to redesign if the core OS is already powerful, and this is what Nokia is excited to reveal about.
It just so happen that Nokia faced internal issues last year, so there were lots of delays, but I guess Nokia can catch up on this. Wait and see next week for what Nokia will be revealing.
@HERCE ang nokia mag gagamit na ng WP7 OS. . .. Check their next Cellphone units .
@turds, tom and kannuchi
haha, so agree. For a market which have been penetrated by symbian for so long, it’s hard to understand how some people still think that symbian pales in comparison to android and IOS.
Let me refresh your minds
Android, is capable of installing apps only on internal memory until froyo. Android will not get a gpu-assisted hardware acceleration till honeycomb. IOS, even on its 4th iteration, still lacks real multitasking and flash support, and many other things i dare not list it may take me forever. Whereas, symbian does all this features even on it’s first symbian^3 release. In terms of real features, and not some other menial farts, symbian is still far ahead of what android and ios can presently offer, combined. And please, stop claiming symbian is dead. What’s on with nokia still pushing updates to symbian^3 devices then? A way to burn money investing on R&D for a platform that will never payoff? Fortunately no. In fact, the first 1.1 update is now available to c7 users. Symbian will be dead only when nokia stopped supporting it. Given that symbian accounts for almost all of nokia’s smartphone market share, abandoning the OS is like committing a suicide, nothing as bad as angry and disappointed customers that swears vengeance through boycott. Even worse than “peeing on your pants for warmth”(translates: using android).
To make things better, why not explain reasonably why symbian sucks rather than make an exact copy of your favorite american troll’s post? If you really insists on trolling, why not be more original than being a complete copycat? Just be sure you know the difference between UI and OS before you even embark on your rant to avoid further embarrassment.
I see lots of bandwagoners here.
Palaging role model ang US. Lol.
I wonder why nokia is still utilizing symbian OS despite the fact that other brands are shifting to android. Just want to share that china base tablet pc has a dual core on it. Ipad China Dual Core though I’m not sure of its quality.
went to mobile expo here in bangkok last night.may smartphone na rin pala acer and some of them have android os.
for non-touchscreen phones, symbian parin. Though, wala ng “high end” phone na non-touchscreen except those from Blackberry.
hindi ko ma gets kung bakit ang ibang pilipino na kikisabay na rin sa “symbian is aging”, “symbian sucks!” na yan sa america lang nman ang mga nagrereklamo niyan.