News surrounding Android’s continued surge always seems to come at once. Earlier today Millennial Media indicated Android ad-requests have grown 65% on its network since last month, and now research firm IDC has come out saying Android is set to overtake Symbian and iOS as the top smartphone platform in Europe.
Android devices represented 23 percent of Western Europe smartphone shipments in Q3, which remains behind Symbian and iOS in the region, but is expected to surge past both in 2011. “The iPhone was last year’s hot device and now people are looking for something different,” said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.
Android is now found on over a quarter of all smartphones worldwide, which is impressive considering it only held 3.5% of the market just 12 months ago. Google’s mobile OS is now on track to take down Symbian — the long-time global market leader — with unit sales of Android device exceeding 20 million in Q3 2010 alone. Much of that growth has been centered in the U.S., where Gartner estimates that Android phones made up between 75 percent and 80 percent of all Verizon Wireless smartphone sales in Q3.
