LONDON — Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC has almost doubled its forecast for shipments of the first commercial device to be based on the Android operating system.
HTC now expects to have shipped 1 million units of the G1 by the end of the year, available on T-Mobile networks in the U.S. and Europe. This is up from earlier projections of 500,000 for, this year, rising to between 1.5 and 2 million by the end of 2009.
The company seems to have stolen a march on larger Android backers such as Motorola, but all its phones to date bear either the Google or T-Mobile moniker.
The device, which is a showcase for Google's Open Handset Alliance (OHA) mobile operating platform, launched in the U.S. in late October, and hit UK outlets this month.
Sales will expand into a number of other countries including Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands, in early 2009.
Analysts at Strategy Analytics recently suggested Android phones would represent 4 percent of the US smartphone maker in the fourth quarter of 2008, out of a total market of 10.5 million units.
For the moment, HTC has the Android base to itself. It is unlikely to face a serious competitor until well into the first quarter of 2009, with Motorola planning its Android launches around the third quarter.
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