The data also shows that Android’s market share ranges from nearly 50% in Italy to 84% in Spain.
In the UK, smartphone dominance in the prepay market is on the rise with Android handsets like the Samsung Galaxy Ace and Y becoming popular.
"We are seeing much of the Android sales growth being driven by consumers trading up from feature phones to smartphones," said Dominic Sunnebo, consumer insight director at Kantar.
"Android handsets currently offer an easier platform to enable these consumers to upgrade, as many first time smartphone consumers state ‘price of handset’ and ‘multimedia capabilities’ as their main reason for choosing an Android device."
Sunnebo also pointed out that the data shows that Android has a higher percentage of consumers spending over £50 on handsets across a wide range of countries.
Many Android devices are attracting many young, first-time mobile owners which would have traditionally been prone to buy blackberry devices.
"It’s important to understand the added value that these first time smartphone consumers bring to carriers and brands. When consumers trade-up from a feature phone, they spend significantly more on their bills and on buying their device. The increase in monthly bill becomes even more important to the carriers, when we consider that most mobile contracts have a 24 month minimum term.
Unlike its performance in European countries, Android sales fell in the US market due to the release of the iPhone 4.
"It’s also interesting to note that although Android’s share is high in the USA market, it has decreased by 6.8% points over the year. This trend contrasts Apple’s growth, which is a reflection of a successful iPhone 4S release and the first time availability of the iPhone 4 and 4S on Sprint."
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