Now that Microsoft has successfully inched by a rival in one market, they’ll have to buck up and make the same happen in others if they want to give Android a real run for its money. Total smart mobile device shipments for 2006 were 77 million, of which 64 million were smart phones. 18 million were smart phones, 2.5 million wireless handhelds and 1.5 million handhelds. This report contains global smartphone shipments by operating system by quarter from 2009 to Q4 2013. Global shipments of all smart mobile devices rose 30 year-on-year in Q4 2006 to hit 22 million. Looking at the data, Windows Phone shows up as a real contender in Europe, where the smartphone OS secured its spot with 10. Android also occupies the top smartphone OS spot in China, thanks to the proliferation of low-cost hardware. Microsoft took a step backwards to a 3 global smartphone market share, while BlackBerry now accounts for less that 1 of global smartphone shipments. Nokia has owned up to this ambition, as they’ve mentioned more than a few times they’re going after the “next billion” phone owners with product lines like the colorful Asha series.īut even in those markets, the Android influence is undeniable - market research firm IDG reported last December that Android overtook Symbian to become the most used smartphone OS in India. One could argue that Symbian and its ilk still serve a critical purpose for Nokia, one of Microsoft’s biggest Windows Phone partners - to push and maintain Nokia’s prominence in developing markets where low cost is a critical factor. And while new purchases of Symbian devices may dwindle, there’s still a huge number of Symbian devices floating around out there. That said, it’s worth noting that Symbian isn’t dead just yet - Nokia continues to provide support for the newish Symbian Belle OS, and turned heads at this year’s Mobile World Congress with the Symbian-powered PureView 808.