With shipments close to 653 million units, global smartphone sales are expected to double by the year 2016, according to an independent research agency Ovum.

Android, which became the No 1 one operating system in the world earlier this year, has also been the fastest adopted mobile operating system ever, according to the agency. Android is expected to gain a massive 38 per cent market share by the year 2016 and will be the driving force for the smartphone sales worldwide, Ovum adds further.

Robust sales coupled with intense competition would help in bring down the pricesof both smartphones and applications, it opined.

“The smartphone market will see significant growth over the next five years, once again outperforming the wider mobile phone market. We will see dramatic shifts in dominance for smartphone software platforms, with Android storming into the lead with 38 per cent market share, compared to Apple iOS’ 17.5 per cent, by 2016,” said Adam Leach, principal analyst, Ovum.

The reason for the growing popularity of Android are not singular but increase in the usage of applications worldwide can be one of the major reasons. According to the research, the reason for Android’s popularity is that it is being adopted by various hardware vendors for devices at both high and low price points.

According to Ovum’s forecast, Apple iOS will be just behind the Android in terms of sales with a market share of 17.2 per cent following closely by Windows Phone with 17.2 per cent market share by 2016. BlackBerry OS will come next with 16.5 per cent market share.

The expectations are that with Microsoft having a dedicated hardware partner now, after the Nokia Microsoft tie-up, many hardware vendors might want to do away with Windows Mobile as their operating system.

Motorola, which is using the Android right now, is developing an operating system of its own, according to a report.

The report was published in the InformationWeek, who quoted a Deutsche Bank analyst as saying this.

“I think Motorola recognises that they need to differentiate and they need options, just in case. Nobody wants to rely on a single supplier (of operating systems),” the analysts said.
Reportedly Motorola is hiring several web and mobile engineers from Adobe and Apple, a possible indication that it is working on an operating system.

Interestingly, Motorola chief executive officer, Sanjay Jha had earlier expressed the company’s desire to have an operating system of its own.

“I’ve always felt that owning your OS is important, provided you have an ecosystem, you have all the services and you have an ability and the scale to execute on keeping that OS at the leading edge. And I continue to believe that at some point, if we have all of those attributes that owning our own OS will be a very important thing,”Jhahad said.

However, Motorola is not coming out with its position on the new operating system possibly as it does not want to give a wrong impression to its current customers. It has reiterated its commitment to Android as the operating system of its handsets.

A possible reason why Motorola is veering away from Google could be due to the partner support problems. Numerous lawsuits are also there, which is a problem for companies using Android.

Off late, there have been an avalanche of operating systems and mobile phones (or smartphones). With so many options on your plate, it is but obvious that you get confused as which Operating system you should go for or which phone you should buy.

It isn’t easy either for the handset manufacturers. For example, Apple makes the iconic iPhone which uses the iOS (iPhone operating system) as a result of which it is missing out on those who wants the Android operating system in their handsets.

Every handset maker, however, wanted to have their own operating system to cost reduction and develop their brand.

Some time ago, Sanjay Jha, chief executive officer, Motorola Mobility, said, if Motorola had more money, it would prefer to have its own operating system.

So one could expect that in future lot more options vis-&#225-vis operating systems is coming to the market.

But how would the handset manufacturers would cope with this stiff competition?

Let’s take a look at the Samsung’s case.

Samsung has a wide variety of phone models based on different operating systems including Android, Bada, Symbian, Windows Phone 7.

Apart from smartphones, Samsung has also some features phones with basic applications preferred by the users.

So a potential buyer has an array of options to choose from.

On the other hand, Apple uses the iOS platform in its iPhone, which limits its target market.

Samsung, according to a recent survey is the No 2 handset manufacturer in the world. But off late Apple has improved its position and is the fifth biggest phone maker by sales in 2010.

As the telecom sector turning competitive each day, it will be interesting to see how other handset makers respond to the situation.

Bharti airtel has yet again introduced an innovative recharge option for its customers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Under the Super Ten Paper Coupon Recharges, announced by the Airtel recently, a user can choose from the multiple recharge options for just Rs 10.

Rajiv Rajgopal, chief executive officer, Kerala and Tamil Nadu Mobile Services, Airtel, said, “We have been noticing a recent trend in the market where customers are well informed about their purchases and would like to assess various options before choosing the right product”.

Under the plan, Tamil Nadu customers can choose from five plans which includes Rs 9.06 Talk time with one day validity; or 30 minutes free Airtel to Airtel calls with one day validity; or Airtel to Airtel call at one paisa per minute with two days validity; or 100 SMS free per day with two day validity; or 100 MB of GPRS for internet with two day validity.

Similarly Airtel’s prepaid customers in Kerala, under the Super Ten plan, can choose from the six options priced at Rs 10, which includes Rs 10 talk time with one day validity; or free 25 minutes for local and STD calls with one day validity; or Airtel to Airtel at 10 paisa per minute with three days validity; or 75 seconds to calling to Gulf States with two day validity; or 100 free SMS per day with three days validity; 100 MB GPRS for internet with two days validity.