Research firm Canalys said that Google’s Android platform became the leading smartphone operating system (OS) in the fourth quarter of 2010, displacing long-running market leader Symbian OS. According to the company, shipments of Android devices reached 32.9 million, while shipments of Symbian units were at 31 million. The volumes of Google-powered devices were boosted by strong performances by a number of vendors, with sharp increases from LG (4,127 percent), Samsung (1,474 percent), Acer (709 percent), and HTC (371 percent). Jointly, HTC and Samsung accounted for nearly 45 percent of Google OS-based shipments.

Nokia continued to be the single largest vendor of smartphones, with 28 percent market share, and the company continued to be the leading player in EMEA and APAC markets. Nokia was displaced in Latin America by RIM, which also overtook Apple to be the largest US player – Apple suffered its “usual US seasonal dip,” Canalys noted.  The Chinese market is growing sharply, “albeit from a smaller base,” growing 134 percent year-on-year, compared with 64 percent growth in the US. In China, Nokia has seen its market share shrink to a still-dominant 56 percent from 76 percent, with pressure coming from Huawei and Samsung in particular.