BusinessDay, Android phones already outselling Apple iPhone to become the biggest smartphone operating platform, but dominance can be limiting factor in itself, Hugo Miller: GOOGLE’s ubiquitous Android operating system has surpassed Apple’s iPhone to become the biggest smartphone operating platform, attracting a big crowd of cellphone makers. But Samsung Electronics’ increasing dominance among Android phones may limit the software’s success, crimping sales at some of Samsung’s competitors. Companies such as HTC and Motorola Mobility Holdings risk being squeezed between South Korea’s Samsung and China’s Huawei Technologies. HTC, which introduced its HTC One phone this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, shifted its focus to Android in 2009. Motorola Mobility also turned to Android to reverse a sales slump. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who decided against using Android and instead teamed up with Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform to try to revive the Finnish company’s fortunes, watches the crowded Android market with relief. "There are certain players who are quite strong in Android, others who have become less strong, there’s a balancing going out there," he said in Barcelona. "If we had made a decision to go Android, how would we be feeling right now? I feel much better being in the place where we have a unique and differentiated point of view." At least 12 handset makers are jostling for position on Android, which is available free to any manufacturer. Android phones represented 51% of all smartphone sales in the fourth quarter from 31% a year earlier, according to research company Gartner. Among individual companies, Samsung’s share of the smartphone market reached 22,5% in the fourth quarter from 9,4% a year earlier and Huawei’s more than doubled to 3,5% from 1,4%, according to researcher IDC. HTC’s market share dropped to 6,4% from 8,6%, while Motorola Mobility fell to 3,3% from 4,8%. The strain has started to show in the results of some players. In October Taiwan-based HTC forecast fourth-quarter sales that trailed analyst estimates after already missing them in the previous period. The maker of the Sensation and Desire handsets cut that outlook less than a month later, before forecasting revenue this quarter that also missed the average estimate. It is a fall from grace for HTC, which was briefly the largest smartphone maker in the US market in the third quarter of last year as consumers waited for the latest version of the iPhone to come out, according to researcher Canalys. "You’re in a tough spot if you have to compete with Samsung on quality and Huawei on cost," said Matt Thornton, an analyst at Avian Securities in Boston, who was at the wireless show in Spain this week. Read Full: BusinessDay - Dominance a threat to Android?, Image: flickr.com
