BARCELONA
Since the launch of Android devices in Spain in April this year and up until last week, only a very limited range of handsets from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC have been available on the market.
An article in today’s Expansión reveals that this is set to change, with Samsung launching its Galaxy model on Monday and Motorola looking to launch its Dext model in November.
However, all of this is unlikely to alter the fact that Android’s target for an installed base of 6m units in Spain by the end of 2009 will not be met. Current estimates show that Android devices represent only 2% of the handset market share in Spain. Whilst the push by new manufacturers entering the market, coupled with HTC’s launch of the Tattoo model may drive market share up a notch or two by the end of the year, Android still has to compete with other smartphone platforms with more established user bases.
Market estimates for an overall market share of 8-10% by the end of the year seem over-optimistic, and it appears more likely that they will not materialise until the choice of handsets and embedded services significantly improves.
