Android Grew 900% In Q2

Analyst firm Canalys has been going over the numbers released by the various players in the smartphone business for Q2 and has some interesting trends to report. Smartphone shipments surged ahead 64% year on year indicating the market segment is still enjoying healthy growth despite weak economic conditions in many parts of the world. There are a few notable mentions in the figures so we'll take a look at each in turn:

Apple saw shipments of iPhones grow a very healthy 61% compared with Q2 of 2009, but crucially slowler than the 64% growth for the smartphone segment overall. However, the increase it did see has put it in third place as the best selling platform, with RIM taking the second spot.

Nokia managed to hold onto their lead of the smartphone market and command a still impressive market share of 38%. Smartphone shipments were up 41%, much lower than Apple, but that figure actually represents a record number for Nokia in that 23.8 million units were shipped during Q2. It's still important to recognise though, that like Apple, they are growing slower than the market is overall.

RIM managed to ship enough units to maintain its place as the second most popular purveyour of smartphones with an 18% share of the market. RIM's growth rate was the same as Nokia's, 41% for Q2, and like Nokia this represents a slower than market growth rate.

Android has emerged as the big winner here in terms of growth with an almost 900% increase in shipments. The overall market growth rate is 64% for Q2 and to say that Android exceeds that figure would be something of an understatement. The actual figure is 886%, but we have to remember the context of this figure, which is that Android is essentially building its base at the moment. Growth rates are always going to be spectacular when you are starting off near the bottom. Having said that if Android can maintain even a fraction of this growth rate they should be propelled straight to the top of the smartphone market in a matter of a few years.