What was the most popular mobile phone operating system in the world in 2010?

With all the iPhones, Blackberries and Android phones in many North American and European markets, it's easy to come to the wrong conclusion about what kinds of mobile phones are used in other parts of the world. The charts below are taken from http://gs.statcounter.com and show the market share percentage for mobile phones worldwide and by region, based on web traffic, not actual devices in use for each operating system. The numbers in these charts are important to consider because they represent the devices that are being used by people around the world to find information on the Internet.

As the global church becomes increasingly Internet-connected using mobile phones, it is likely that they will be using their mobile devices to find discipleship resources in their language on the Internet. developing apps (and/or mobile-ready websites) for the phones they are using - and are likely to use in the near future - is a key part of effectively equipping the global church with indigenous discipleship resources.

Mobile phone operating systems in 2010

This chart shows the overall market share worldwide for the major mobile phone operating systems (click each graph for a larger version):

Note that the Symbian OS still has the highest market share worldwide. The reason for this is shown in the following chart that breaks down the total market share by region:

While North America, Europe and Oceania show iOS (including iPhone and iPod touch devices) as the dominant operating system, the rest of the world is still primarily a Symbian OS world.

Trends

While a snapshot at the end of 2010 is useful for understanding the current market share of mobile phone operating systems, it is helpful to see these numbers in context. The following chart shows the worldwide market share percentage by web traffic for 2009 as well as 2010:

Some significant points to note:

• Symbian OS has only fallen a few percentage points to 32.5%
• iOS has fallen nearly ten percentage points to 25.5%
• Blackberry OS has doubled its market share to 16.5%
• Android OS has nearly quadrupled its market share to 8.8%

These trends show up more clearly when comparing the worldwide market share percentage by quarter for 2009-2010, as in the following chart:

Note the decline of iOS and Symbian OS worldwide and the rise of Blackberry OS and Android OS.

So what?

What do these numbers mean and how should they affect decisions for mission organizations and ministries around the world?

While these numbers and trends do not necessarily provide a reliable prediction of the future, they may be helpful for developing informed ministry strategies that include (or are based on) use of mobile phones as tools for equipping the global church to grow in discipleship. It may be harder to find a developer for the Symbian OS platform as it is less trendy and exciting than iOS or Android, for instance. But if equipping the global church with mobile phone applications for the devices they are currently using is a priority, then Symbian OS still looks like it will be relevant for some time to come.

Symbian OS, however, seems unlikely to be the operating system of the future at this point. Based on what developers are saying, the general lack of new manufacturers creating Symbian devices, and the general confusion from Nokia and the Symbian Foundation, it seems likely that another OS (or more than one OS) will rise in significance in overseas markets. Whether this is iOS, Android, Blackberry or another is open for discussion.

It is significant that Android OS is free & open-source and also has Google's marketing and development resources behind it. The increase in the number of Android phones is also significant and suggests that it will continue to increase in popularity. According to one site, the number of all Android phones increased as follows:

• 1 Android phone in 2008
• 18 Android phones in 2009
• 66 Android phones in 2010

The mobile phone landscape changes fast and it will be interesting to see where things go in 2011. As the global church becomes more mobile phone-centric, knowing what devices they are using - and developing resources and applications accordingly - will make it possible to accomplish the task of equipping the global church to grow in discipleship more quickly.