Android to dominate smartphones for next four years

Canalys has predicted that Android will still be the majority shareholder in the smart phone market in 2016, but that the tablet market will see stiffer competition.
According to predictions, smart phone shipments in 2016 will total around 1.2 billion units, with tablet shipments of around 207 million units – meaning compound annual growth rates of 19.5 per cent and 26.8 per cent respectively.
The analyst predicts that Android will hold around 57 per cent of the smart phone OS market, with Apple’s share remaining at around 18 per cent and Microsoft making inroads in the interim.
In the tablet market, however, Apple is predicted to hold just under half the market while increased availability of Windows 8 devices will increase Microsoft’s share to 17 per cent.
“Pads are the fastest growing consumer electronics products in history and are forecast to represent 29% of total PC shipments in 2016. But the market remains dominated by a single vendor. Other PC and smart phone vendors are currently finding it hard to weaken Apple’s position,” said Canalys analyst Tim Coulling.
“The only product that most would consider a big hit is the Kindle Fire, brought to market by Amazon – an Internet retailer. Tight integration of hardware, software and services is a prerequisite for competing in the pad market, even at low price points, and fragmentation among other pad vendors’ offers helps Apple maintain its position.”
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