Android passes Apple and Rim

Heading towards Symbian
According to bean counters at research firm Gartner Nokia flogged 29.5 million smartphones during the third quarter of the year for a 36.6 per cent share of the worldwide market. This is down from 44.6 per cent a year ago and part of the much predicted fall of the Symbian operating system. Sales of Android-powered smartphones increased to 20.5 million units, giving the Android platform a 25.5 per cent market share, up from just 3.5 per cent a year ago, Gartner said.
Apple's iPhone was next on sales of 13.5 million units for a 16.7 per cent market share, but this was down from 17.1 per cent a year ago. Rim was in fourth position with sales of 11.9 million units. Its market share dropped to 14.8 per cent from 20.7 per cent a year ago.
Microsoft's Windows Mobile continued its slide to 2.8 per cent market share, down from 7.9 per cent a year ago. However this figure was before the release of Windows Mobile 7 which will take some time to make any impact in the figures.