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Android to ship 31.8m handsets in 2013, claims analyst

Stuart Dredge
Android to ship 31.8m handsets in 2013, claims analyst

MIC thinks that will rise from 6.5 million Android phones this year.

31.8 million Android smartphones will ship in 2013, according to a forecast from Taipei-based analyst the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC).

It reckons that Android's rate of growth between now and then will outpace its smartphone rivals, with MIC claiming Android phone shipments will reach 6.5 million this year.

However, MIC thinks that even more growth will come from devices other than smartphones running the Android operating system.

It claims overall Android device shipments in 2013 will reach 126 million - including laptops, portable devices and gadgets for the home.

However, the report warns that as the number of Android devices increases, so will fragmentation, which could be a barrier to developers investing more in making applications for the platform.

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MIC analyst Kate Huang also has some advice for Google's smartphone rivals. "Faced with the threat from the Android platform, Symbian could accelerate the opening of its system in order to attract more companies," she says.

"Windows Mobile could lower licensing fees in order to reduce the impact from Android."

MIC's Android smartphone prediction is relatively cautious compared to some other analysts. Gartner recently forecast 76 million Android shipments in 2012.

Tags: mic