Portable Electronics Ltd // Technology you can carry.

New In-Stat (www.in-stat.com) research indicates that this tablet frenzy isn’t quite as global as one would think, as only three regions, North America, Asia/Pacific, and Western Europe will be responsible for 91% of all tablet unit shipments in 2015.

Reported by In-stat

A number of smaller handset vendors are rushing to launch low-priced (sub US$150) Android handsets targeting users in emerging markets in 2011, with related shipments forecast to reach 20-25 million units this year. The shipment total represents up to tenfold growth on 2010 shipments, and the segment will account for 12.1-15.1% of overall Android handset shipments, according to a recently published Digitimes Research Special Report.

Using data that starts from the launch of both Android and iOS platforms, Dediu plotted the known activations across each quarter.  Four years in, Apple has around 191 million cumulative users whereas Android is at 83 million after 31 months.  Factoring in the impressive growth rate and doing a bit of math, the Android install base should overtake Apple at some point in the next twelve months.

Google’s Android OS is forecast to increase its worldwide share of the media tablet market from 20 percent in 2011 to 39 percent in 2015 (see Table 1). Analysts said Google’s decision not to open up the Honeycomb, its first OS version dedicated to tablets, to third parties will prevent fragmentation, but it will also slow the price decline and ultimately cap market share.

Table 1
Worldwide Sales of Media Tablets to End Users by OS (Thousands of Units)

Worldwide smartphone sales will reach 468 million units in 2011, a 57.7 percent increase from 2010, according to Gartner Inc. By the end of 2011, Android will move to become the most popular operating system (OS) worldwide and will build on its strength to account for 49 percent of the smartphone market by 2012 (see Table 1).

Sales of open OS* devices will account for 26 percent of all mobile handset device sales in 2011, and are expected to surpass the 1 billion mark by 2015, when they will account for 47 percent of the total mobile device market.

According to ABI Research 302 million smartphones shipped in 2010, chalking up a resounding 71% growth over 2009’s shipment levels.

Android’s success since its launch is expected to continue: some 69 million smartphones running the Android operating system shipped last year, and ABI Research expects that in 2016 Android will have captured 45% of the market.

The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 49.2% in 2011 as more consumers and enterprise users turn in their feature phones for smartphones with more advanced features. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors will ship more than 450 million smartphones in 2011 compared to the 303.4 million units shipped in 2010.

• Global shipments to hit 653 million by 2016
• Android will take 38% market share compared to Apple’s 17.5%

The global smartphone market will double in size by 2016 to hit shipments of 653 million, predicts Ovum in a new forecast*. Android will drive the growth and will emerge as the dominant platform, dramatically outperforming Apple with a massive 20.5 per cent lead on market share, finds the independent telecoms analyst.

IDC expects smartphone shipments to hit 137 million units in 2011, the first time for shipments to break the 100 million mark in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region.

10.1 million media tablets were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10) - more than double the 4.5 million shipped in the third quarter. Apple's share came down from 93% in 3Q10 to 73% in 4Q10, but still reflected Apple's strong leadership position. Samsung's Galaxy Tab was the primary competitor in the holiday season, beating other players to market and capturing more than 17% share, while a number of smaller regional players also participated.