Android overtakes Symbian as most popular mobile OS

Google's mobile operating system Android has unseated Symbian as the largest smartphone operating system.

Canalys, a research firm based in Reading, U.K, released shipment numbers for the fourth quarter of 2010 that show Google shipped the most.

Google shipped 33.3 million copies of Android in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with 4.7 million the year before. Symbian, the operating system made by Nokia, shipped 31 million copies in the fourth quarter, compared with 23.9 million.

Microsoft, which began shipping Windows Phone 7 at the end of October, continued to see its share fall, with 3.1 million copies of its mobile operating system -- which include both the new Windows Phone 7 and the older Windows Mobile platform -- compared with 3.9 million a year ago.

Android shipments were driven by phone makers HTC, Samsung, Acer and LG.

Here are some other interesting notes from the report:

• The U.S. continues to ship the most smartphones.
• South Korea is now one of the top 10 smartphone markets in the world.
• Android took off in Japan in 2010.
• The Chinese market grew 134 percent, compared with U.S. growth of 64 percent in 2010.

Rachel Nichols Dido Joss Stone Majandra Delfino Maria Bello