Nokia could be forced to consider adopting Android as Symbian market share declines in coming years, warns Informa

Uptake of the Android operating system will see user numbers for the platform top 540 million by 2015, putting pressure on Nokia to consider adopting the platform according to analyst Informa Telecoms & Media.

Informa predicts that smartphone users will surpass one billion by 2013 with Android becoming the most popular operating system by 2015. Android will see compound annual growth of 78 per cent each year from 2009 to 2015, giving it 38 per cent of the market by the end of this period according to Informa.

While the Nokia-backed Symbian platform currently holds just over 40 per cent of the smartphone OS market, Informa predicts it will decline in popularity over the coming years to hold around 32 per cent by 2015.

Informa principal analyst Malik Kamal-Saadi said: “If [Symbian] continues to under-perform in bringing innovation, pressure will grow for Nokia and could push the company to consider the adoption of an alternative platform, notably Android, in the future.”

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