Worldwide smartphone sales will reach 468 million units this year, a 57.7 percent increase from 2010, according to a study by Gartner. By the end of this year, Android will move to become the most popular OS worldwide and will account for 49 percent of the smartphone market by 2012. Sales of open OS devices will account for 26 percent of all mobile handset device sales this year, and are expected to surpass the 1 billion mark by 2015, when they will account for 47 percent of the total mobile device market. By 2015, 67 percent of all open OS devices will have an average selling price of USD 300 or below, said the researcher. Gartner predicts that Apple's iOS will remain the second biggest platform worldwide through 2014 despite its share deceasing slightly after this year. This reflects Gartner's underlying assumption that Apple will be interested in maintaining margins rather than pursuing market share by changing its pricing strategy. This will continue to limit adoption in emerging regions. iOS share will peak this year, with volume growth well above the market average. This is driven by increased channel reach in the US and Western Europe. Research In Motion's share over the forecast period will decline. Gartner has factored in RIM's migration from BlackBerry OS to QNX, which is expected in 2012. Gartner predicts that Nokia will push Windows Phone well into the mid-tier of its portfolio by the end of 2012, driving the platform to be the third largest in the worldwide ranking by 2013. Gartner has revised its forecast of Windows Phone's market share upward, solely by virtue of Microsoft's alliance with Nokia. The growth in sales of media tablets expected this year and future years will widen the ecosystems that open OS communications devices have created. Consumers who already own an open OS communications device will be drawn to media tablets and more often than not, to media tablets that share the same OS as their smartphone, said the researcher. At the same time, tablet users who do not own a smartphone could be prompted to adopt one to be able to share the experience they have on their tablets.
