Google Inc.'s Android operating system is expected to take the biggest share of the smartphone market next year on the back of growing interest from consumers and handset vendors, local researchers said Tuesday. Shipments of smartphones running the Android system, which are forecast to rank in second place this year with 58.45 million units sold, will top the market in 2011 with an estimated 29.7 percent share, according to an e-mail statement from Luke Lin, an analyst and project manager of Digitimes Research, an industry tracking company. Nokia's Symbian will slide to second place with 28 percent of the market share, followed by Apple Inc.'s iOS with 16.7 percent, RIM's BlackBerry with 14 percent and Microsoft's Windows with 5.1 percent, according to a report issued that same day by Digitimes Research. Despite problems of diverse system versions and patent right lawsuits, Google still attracts smartphone makers wishing to launch various under-US$100 models, making Android likely to reach the top spot a year earlier than a previous forecast in 2009, Lin noted. Joey Yen, a market analyst of PCs and peripherals at International Data Corp. Taiwan, said in a telephone interview with selfnews that the Android system will grow rapidly in 2011 because developers are more willing to produce applications for the platform due to its open source and low license fees. Moreover, consumers and vendors are getting more interested in the phones. 'With the increasing number of products and rising awareness of the Android system, consumers and vendors have become more confident in them,' she added. 