Technology market research firm ABI Research released a forecast today suggesting that in 2016, Google’s open-source Android platform will capture 45 percent of the global smartphone market. This comes a little while after IDC released its own forecast, which predicts about the same stats: Android will capture 45.4 percent of the market by 2015.

These optimistic forecasts my partially come in light of Google’s heavy pushes of the next gen mobile experience: NFC technology. The company recently became a Principal Member of the near Field Communications Forum, and partnered up with MasterCard and Citigroup to facilitate NFC financial transactions. Still, Microsoft is reportedly doing similar efforts to bring NFC to its mobile users, but the software behemoth’s Windows Phone 7 got a partially negative forecast from ABI research.

“Windows Phone 7, on the other hand, which shipped in two million handsets in Q4 2010, will have to find incredible success through its Nokia channel to take more than 7% of the market by 2016”

In comparison, IDC expects WP7 will leapfrog to the no. 2 spot behind Android in 2015, with a global market share of 20.9 percent. ABI also made some forecasts regarding RIM, who’s market share will drop by 2 percent because, according to the research firm, “the consumer market will grow faster than its [RIM’s] portion of it.” Apple’s iOS is in turn expected to hold a market share of 19 percent in 2016, a 4 percent increase from 2010.

This growth prospect may just be worth it for Apple, who apparently seems to think so considering it announced it is absorbing the higher iPad 2 component costs caused due to the Japanese quake.

Moving on to the last part of ABI’s mobile forecast, the research firm expects Samsung’s Bada mobile OS may reach a 10 percent share of the mobile market by 2016.