It was time to go phone-shopping yesterday. My two-year plan had expired and I was ready for a new phone. I was tired of my iPhone and wanted something different. With the help of an eager salesperson, I ended up selecting an Android phone. Judging by the number of Android smart phones sold worldwide, I’m not the only person making the switch to a droid. In addition, many phone users are switching to smartphones, which is changing the dynamics of the smartphone market.  

Android now is the platform for as many as 48% of phones in markets globally and where it competes against Nokia’s Symbian. While the percentage initially seem abnormally high, the percentage of Android phones sold in comparison to the Symbian phones doesn’t seem all that high when you take into account the incredible increase in sales in the number of Android-based phones which are now shipped. Smartphone shipments of Android-based phones are up now by a staggering 379%.

The Nokia Symbian, which was the previous leader in cell phones until the advent of Android-powered phones and the iPhone. The Symbian, however, is currently used in more countries than the Android--56 to be exact--but in those countries, the Android phones are clearly taking over and are leading the pack.

Android phones are doing especially well in the Asian-Pacific region. 

Research by IDC indicates that Android-powered phones are expected to take 45-45% of the market share in the next couple of years. Apple, meanwhile, is still selling smartphones, but not as rapidly as its Android competitor. Globally, Apple smartphones are selling at “a distant second” to the Android phones, while the Finnish Nokia brands are in third place. 

Each smartphone platform seems to fare differently in different regions. As THIS GRAPHIC from the UK indicates, Apple is now dominating the mobile phone market in the UK, while more and more smartphone users are turning to the Android platform. As the article accompanying the graph points out, the reason for the shift in Smartphone usage is not necessarily just a change from one smartphone to another, but to a dramatic shift in the number of smartphone users in general. 

As it stands now, it seems that Androids are leading the smartphone market, with the iPhone in second place, and Nokia lagging far behind in third place. 

Keep in mind, however, that Android powers phones for several different manufacturers, which makes looking at the numbers a little more confusing than it might ordinarily.