Google’s Android software to ship on over 1bn devices in 2014
DEVICES shipped using Google’s Android operating system will number over a billion in 2014, according to research group Gartner.
The number of new Android users is set soar 26 per cent to 1.1bn over the course of the year. Gartner forecasts that the strongest demand for devices will come from emerging markets.
In contrast, Apple’s iOS and Mac OS operating systems are predicted to be used in 344m Apple devices by the end of 2014, a 28 per cent rise on the number of devices shipped the previous year.
“There is no doubt that there is a volume-versus-value equation, with Android users purchasing lower-cost devices compared to Apple users,” said Gartner analyst Annette Zimmerman on the sharp disparity between the numbers predicted for the two platforms.
Gartner also highlighted the increasing popularity of tablets, sales of which are forecast to rise by 47 per cent this year to 263m as consumers move away from PCs.