“The latest smartphone sales figures from NPD Group show Google’s Linux-based Android OS blowing the iPhone and Windows Mobile clean out of the water. The market research company’s first-quarter 2010 figures reveal that although Research in Motion’s (RIM’s) OS still commands 36 percent of the market, Android grabbed second place with 28 percent, relegating Apple into a humiliating third place with just 21 percent. Microsoft? It’s nowhere to be seen.

“You can argue that Android sales have been artificially inflated by two-for-one offers and other carrier promotions and that some potential iPhone buyers are waiting for the next model, which is expected some time in the summer. Although Windows Mobile is now a dead duck OS, Windows Phone 7 will not be available for months, so it’s not surprising Microsoft’s mobile OS sales are so low. But these arguments miss the point. Android is popular because there are plenty of models to choose from right now, at many different price points — including free with the purchase of another handset. Thus, in the mobile market — unlike on the desktop — a Linux OS is now outselling both Apple’s and Microsoft’s OS offerings.”