Could Android explode?

The telecommunications research company Strategy Analytics has released a new report on the 2009 smartphone market, and the news ain't great for Apple (AAPL). That might sound odd, considering the report predicts that iPhone shipments will grow by a healthy 79 percent. Here's the problem: Shipments of phones using Google's rival Android operating system, the report concludes, will grow by a whopping 900 percent. "A relatively low-cost licensing model, its semi-open-source structure and Google's support for cloud services have encouraged companies such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung, T Mobile, Vodafone and others to support the Android operating system," says Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawston. "Android is now in a good position to become a top-tier player in smartphones over the next two to three years." Hear that, Steve Jobs? If this report is accurate, Google's coming up fast.

TMCnet editor Michael Dinan rounds out the global picture. Overall, he writes, companies shipped 152 million smartphones around the world last year, growing at 20 percent. Symbian is the big loser right now, as products such as the BlackBerry eat into its market share. But Dinan sees another potential headache for Apple around the corner. He argues that the App Store may have driven its initial success, but app developers are chafing at the relatively small share of revenue they receive from Apple; now that smartphones are gaining wider acceptance among consumers, developers have more chances to do business with companies that offer a bigger piece of the take. Ironically, Apple's own success at opening up this market has led to this development.

Google has a long way to go before playing with the big boys. Only 8 million Android phones have sold so far, compared with 75 million Symbian smartphones in 2008. But with more and more companies adopting the Android operating system (Canadian phone carrier Rogers Wireless is the latest example, announcing the rollout of Android smartphones in June), Google is clearly on the way. Which begs the question: As Android and the iPhone compete more and more directly, how long can Eric Schmidt stay on both the Apple and Google boards of directors?