Asian smartphone sales up 270% in Q3 2010 as Android tops Symbian

The latest stats released by research firm GfK suggest that, in the midst of a surge in smartphone sales, Android is set to replace Symbian at the top of the tree in Asia.

The company claims smartphone sales as a whole are on the rise in the region, totalling 4.7 million units shipped to retail in Q3 2010 almost half the entire handset sales pie.

"Smartphones are the key drivers of the telecommunications industry at this moment," said GfK Asia regional account director for telecommunications, Gerard Tan.

"While only 1.27 million smartphones were sold in the third quarter of last year, over 4.7 million units were sold in the same quarter this year, signifying a growth of nearly 270 percent."

Gaining Google

It's Android, rather than market leader Symbian, that appears to be driving such growth.

GfK claims Google's platform has managed to make its mark on Asian consumers during the last two quarters, helping to make it the most popular platform on the market.

"Our Q3 report shows that Android has recently overtaken Symbian as the most popular smartphone OS in the context of Asia as a whole, in both value and unit sales," added Tan.

"However, it is interesting to note the difference in OS trends when we look at findings in North and South-East Asia separately."

GfK's figures suggest Android is set to replace Symbian in terms of total sales to date in all the territories in the south where it had previously been untouchable.

However, in the north, the competition remains as intense as it ever was, consumers reacting to move and counter move by OEMs and carriers alike.

[source: GfK]