Wellington: Google’s Android operating system will be used on more computing devices and other gadgets over Microsoft’s Windows within four years, a new research has suggested.
According to the study by research firm Gartner, at the end of 2016, there will be 2.3 billion computers, tablets and smartphones using Android software, compared to 2.28 billion Windows devices.
That compares to an expected 1.5 billion Windows devices by the end of this year, against 608 million using Android, Stuff.no.nz reports.
According to the report, Android, which reached the market only in 2008, has risen fast to be the dominant smartphone platform, controlling two-thirds of that market, and has also taken the No. 2 spot in the fast-growing tablet computer market.
The proliferation of the free software also gives Google its edge in the search market, its current key profit generator, the report said.
Microsoft''s Windows has dominated the personal computer industry for decades, but the company has struggled to keep up with its shift to wireless, while in smartphones its market share is only around 3 percent, the report added.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, October 25, 2012, 18:36