TORONTO — Global sales of smartphones will increase by 55 percent this year, with handsets using Google Inc.’s Android operating system projected to account for about two of every five sold in the second half, according to International Data Corp.
Shipments of smartphones, which allow users to surf the Internet, browse e-mail, and download movies, will increase to 472 million units from 305 million in 2010, the Framingham, Mass., researcher said yesterday.
The market share for Android, which is available on several handsets including from Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC Corp., is surging in the United States and growing in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Nokia Oyj, based in Espoo, Finland, is struggling to retain users as it shifts away from its Symbian operating platform to Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone 7 software, a transition that may last through 2012.
