Android and Windows Phone 7 to lead market as smartphone sales hit 1.1 billion annually in 2015

Hot on the heels of strikingly similar projections by IDC, Gartner has painted a picture of a smartphone market dominated by Android over the course of the next five years.

The firm's numbers suggest Google's platform will account for 39 percent of the market in 2011, rising to 48 percent by 2012 and holding its market leading position through to 2015.

More interestingly, however, Gartner believes Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 will overtake iPhone and snap up second place in five years time – just as IDC predicted.

Gartner claims its Windows Phone 7 projections have been adjusted because of Microsoft's deal with Nokia.

Quite simply, the Finnish firm's business – and, specifically, the lower price points it operates at - will carry Microsoft's platform to consumers it wouldn't be able to reach alone.

"Gartner has revised its forecast of Windows Phone's market share upward, solely by virtue of Microsoft's alliance with Nokia," the company said in a statement.

"All the strengths Nokia still has will play a role," added Gartner analyst Roberta Cozza.

Gartner claims Microsoft's OS will account for 5 percent of the market in 2011, rising to 20 percent by 2015.

In contrast, Apple will hold on to its spot in second place with 19.4 percent of the market in 2011, but its share is predicted to decline to 17.2 percent by 2015, largely down to the relatively high price of its handsets.

Rival BlackBerry will also fall back to 11 percent of the market by 2015, down from 13.4 percent in 2011.

IDC's figures differ slightly, but the end result of the two firm's projections is the same: iPhone's share slipping just enough to let a WP7 rejuvenated by Nokia slip into second position.

Google, however, is the major winner according to both firms, with almost half of the market by 2015 equating to handset sales of around half a billion in that year alone.

[source: ComputerWorld]