Canalys today published Q4 2010 global smartphone market data, which revealed that Google’s Android has become the leading platform. Shipments of Android-based smart phones reached 32.9 million, while devices running Nokia’s Symbian platform trailed slightly at 31.0 million worldwide. But Nokia did retain its position as the leading global smart phone vendor, with a share of 28%. The fourth quarter also saw the worldwide smart phone market continue to soar, with shipments of 101.2 million units representing year-on-year growth of 89%.

In Q4 2010, volumes of Google OS-based smart phones (Android, OMS and Tapas) were again boosted by strong performances from a number of vendors, notably LG, Samsung, Acer and HTC, whose volumes across these platforms grew 4,127%, 1,474%, 709% and 371% respectively year-on-year. HTC and Samsung together accounted for nearly 45% of Google OS-based handset shipments.

According to NPD, Android increased its market-share lead by 9 percentage points to 53 percent, whereas Apple’s iOS declined 4 percentage points to 19 percent to tie with BlackBerry in US. Windows Phone 7 OS debuted at 2 percent and Palm’s WebOS held at 2 percent. Top five selling handsets in US were:

"At CES there were announcements from several handset providers of the intent to use the Android OS to bring new capabilities to market, including dual-core processors, 4G network speeds, and larger displays that seek to expand on the success of handsets like the Motorola Droid X and HTC EVO 4G," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "Android will encounter greater competition this year, however, as Apple's iPhone 4 -- the best-selling handset in the U.S. -- debuts on Verizon Wireless."