Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android will become the second largest operating system behind Symbian by 2013, according to research firm IDC. Android started with only 690,000 Android-based devices on the market in 2008, but IDC expects that number to quickly grow to 68 million units in just three years – a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 150.4%.
While Symbian continues to hold on to its number-one slot due to Nokia’s strength outside the US, Android will experience the fastest growth of any mobile operating system, IDC said. Fellow newcomers Linux and webOS will not have the same luck. According to the firm, Android’s rise to fame will cause shipments of Linux-powered devices to trend down, but not disappear entirely, while Palm’s webOS will grow steadily but only capture limited market share due to limited deployment and availability of devices across multiple carriers. Overall, IDC is forecasting that worldwide smartphone shipments will exceed 390 million units, at a CAGR of 20.9% between now
and then.
Android has made impressive gains in the last year, no matter whom you ask. Mobile entertainment site Myxer, which counts more than 30 million consumers amongst its members, said that visits to its mobile site by Android users grew 350% in 2009 – faster than the iPhone, which grew 170% during the year. The figures represent 1% year-on-year growth for the iPhone, and a 7% jump for Android. In just the fourth quarter, Myxer delivered seven times more content to Android phones than to iPhones and found that the number of Android phones visiting the site has also grown.
Mobile metrics vendor AdMob also recently released its fourth-quarter findings for data traffic and, while Apple maintained its lead, Android captured 16% of data traffic, up from only 1% last year. The OS has already made its way across more than 20 devices, including the Motorola Droid and Google’s own Nexus One. In its Q4 earnings, 
Google talked up localization and the mobile Web as the drivers for more growth, but its handset partners and application developers are also looking to continue the Android momentum well into 2010 with a slew of new devices and apps planned.