If you were to ask me this question just a few years ago, my answer would be simple and direct, “BlackBerry®”, the phone of choice by countless enterprises and technology specialist because of its high security features and Exchange integration. Push forward to 2010 and now you find yourself surrounded by hundreds of phones coming in an assortment of different operating system flavors that makes your choices almost as tough as walking into Baskin Robins and having to choose the type of ice cream you want to eat. Do we really need 31 flavors?

Let’s talk phone operating systems:

Symbian  OS – being one of the oldest open source operating systems for Nokia mobile devices, released in 2001 the Symbian operating system has been renowned for its stability and acceptance in the Enterprise working environment. Symbian still holds the majority of the market share with 41% even though they do not make headlines like BlackBerry or iPhone have.   Projected market share is set to decline by 18% by 2014 due to the Androids continued acceptance and gaining popularity.

BlackBerry OS – released in 2002 by Research In Motion the BlackBerry OS quickly gained popularity as it was the first Mobile OS to utilize “push email” and later adapted to other push technologies such as Facebook and Twitter instant updates to the users phone. Besides developing push technology, the BlackBerry OS has also been known for its list of security features that has even made this phone safe enough for the President to use. BlackBerry OS currently holds 17.9% of the marketplace and is looking to hold its spot thru 2014.

Apples iOS – made its debut in 2007 as a consumer device that was completely touch screen but quickly found its way into small business and eventually into enterprise. Originally not designed to work with businesses and the standardized email server Exchange, Apple recently addressed this issue and with the 4^th generation of the phone and has now included a more robust business compatible phone and a developers marketplace that hosts a slew of applications tailored to different business needs. iOS currently holds 14.7 % of the market place but is expected to lose nearly 25% of its market share by 2014.

Google Android OS – hit the market just in time for the holidays of 2007, the Android OS was debuted as Google’s attempt to break in to the cell phone market using an operating system that was built off the Linux kernel. The Android is one of two operating systems that are open source, which developers have latched onto and have created applications for just about anyone and everything out there.  Android currently has 16.3% of the market shares in the cell phone OS market and is gaining ground with the release of Android II the projections are an increase of 51.2% by 2014.

Microsoft Windows7 Mobile – The newest mobile OS to hit the market, Microsoft is hoping to capture and gain market share as it boasts its seamless integration and synchronization with the popular desktop OS Windows7. Integration with business and social applications has shown promise to this operating system but being that it was just released it is unclear how it will be received in the enterprise business environment. Currently Windows Mobile holds 6.8% of the market share, but is looking at increasing its shares by 41% through 2014.

If we base what phone you need by who is currently in control of the mobile OS market share you would be leaning towards a Nokia with Symbian but if we look at trending operating systems that are gaining ground then you have to look at Google’s Android. No matter what phone you choose you need to ask yourself what you plan on using the phone for. If you are looking for business related usage and tight security integration then you would have to look at BlackBerry. If you are looking for a phone that is more multimedia driven, then you have your choice of Apples iOS or Android OS… either way the phone has to suit your needs and be easy to operate while on the road.

Thank You for reading and happy hunting…. Statistics courtesy of IDC.com