UPDATED 10:37 EDT / SEPTEMBER 14 2011

Android Overtakes iOS in Europe, Intel Wants In

Looks like Android’s dominance over iOS has crossed the pond.  According to the latest comScore MobiLens report, which analyzes the growth trends of smartphone platforms across the five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), in July 2011,  1 in 4 smartphone users in EU5 run Google’s Android platform, with HTC as the brand of choice.

“Smartphone adoption has seen significant growth from the previous year, driven in large part by the increasing popularity of the Google Android platform,” said Jeremy Copp, comScore Europe vice president for Mobile.

“Although Symbian continues to lead the EU5 smartphone market, Android is gaining fast and recently passed Apple to become the second most popular platform. Network operators, publishers and advertisers looking to effectively reach the European mobile audience must pay close attention to the continued growth of Android in the region, as it will likely have far-reaching implications for the mobile media landscape.”

Symbian still tops the EU5 chart with 37.8%, followed by Android at 22.3%.  Apple comes in third with 20.3%, then RIM at 9.4% and Microsoft tailing the pack at 6.7%.  As for mobile brands, HTC tops the EU5 chart at 34.6%, Samsung 31.7%, Sony Ericsson 15.1%, LG 5.8% and Motorola at 3.6%.

As the Android platform shows more potential, especially in the European market, Intel wants in on the party.  Intel and Google announced their partnership, with plans to integrate the Android software in Intel’s Atom mobile x86-compatible processors.  It’s a good move for Intel, as it aims to snatch some market share from the ARM processor, which is currently dominating mobile devices.  You can find ARM chips in Apple, Microsoft, Nokia and RIM mobile devices.  And guess who made the announcement at the Intel Developer Forum?  Google’s very own Senior VP of Mobile Andy Rubin.

Intel has been pushing to market Atom, but was disappointed at Microsoft as they believe the company was not supporting their product as expected.   And as the partnership dwindled, Intel looked for other partners like Nokia and came up with Atom-based MeeGo devices, which were eventually halted as Nokia pursued Windows 7 based devices.  Android seems like the only option left for Intel, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not the best option.

According to Reuters, “Intel is allying itself with one of the biggest players in the mobile industry. In August, Google announced plans to acquire mobile phone maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.”

Intel believes that partnering with Google will be greatly advantageous for them as Android device users are already surpassing iOS users.

“The smartphone business is not established in terms of the ultimate shakeout of who’s going to win and who is going to lose,” Intel’s chief executive Paul Otellini said. “You saw what happened in terms of how fast Android took share from Apple. So good products on good platforms can really still make a big difference in this industry.”

While Intel’s clearly widening its path to the mobile industry, the company still has a stronghold in the shrinking PC market.  During the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), the company pushed their Ultrabook initiative, though no Ultrabook is currently available. But manufacturers such as Acer, Asus, Lenovo and Toshiba are said to be preparing shipment in the following months.  The Ultrabooks were supposed to have the next generation 2nm “Ivy Bridge” processors, which is the first implementation of their  Tri-Gate technology, but the processors won’t start shipping until early next year.


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