Android Smartphone Sales Saw 1,580% Growth in Europe

Tweet

Android has just grown a phenomenal 1,580% growth in the last quarter of 2010, compared to the same period the previous year. Nokia should start worrying, as Android is now really eating into what is traditionally their market.

According to IDC, Android is clearly in the lead in the European smartphone market. Android smartphones accounted for 470,000 units in sales in 4Q 2009. In the last quarter of 2010, this ballooned to 7.9 million units just for that particular quarter alone. This year-on-year sales growth of 1,580% is clearly an amazing feat, considering Europe is known to favor Symbian rather than other mobile operating systems.

In the same analysis, IDC says that the total Android market in Europe is at 58.7 million units by end 2010. This accounts for a 31% market share in the smartphone market. Meanwhile, feature-phone unit sales have declined 24.8% in 4Q 2010, compared to the same period in 2009.

Even with these developments, Nokia is said to have retained its market leadership in terms of total sales, at 33%. This is despite the decline in feature-phone and smartphone sales. It looks like the Nokia-Microsoft partnership is a smart move, with the aim to create the so-called third ecosystem, competing against Android and iOS.

Given the trends, though, it looks like Android will be “king of the hill” in Europe, as IDC predicts.