IDC: Android Devices to Outpace Windows Devices by 2016
Once upon a time, it was a shocker to think that Android could completely overtake iOS by 2015 like some analysts predicted. Not so crazy now, is it? In fact, it’s all happening at a more rapid pace than they imagined. Imagine my surprise when IDC reported that Android devices were on pace to overtake Windows devices by 2016. Notice what I wrote following the names of both operating systems: “devices.”
Yes, they believe that Windows PCs, tablets, phones and more will all succumb to defeat at the hands of Android devices of the same variety. Windows devices on x86-based CPUs currently have a leading 35.9% share, and IDC predicts it’ll drop to 25.1% by 2016. Meanwhile, Android will go from 29.4% to 31.1%, effectively taking over as the leading platform. Even now, Android holds a pretty significant piece of the pie.
Just as with smartphones, this prediction could easily change over the coming years, or even over the coming months. Android still hasn’t broken any significant ground on the tablet side of things. If we can assume that it’ll have even half the success Android phones have had since launch, we could see this happening much sooner.
It’s not wise to assume anything, though, so we’ll just call it “wishful thinking” for now. Oh, and iOS ill grow from 14.6% to a measly 17.3%. IDC predicts that the increasingly low prices of tablets and an expanding tablet application ecosystem will fuel growth. Read the rest of the report at their site.