Smartphone touchscreen device with a slide-out physical keyboard. The first Android device, the HTC Dream, was released in September 2008. Although Android's adoption was relatively slow at first, it started gaining widespread popularity in 2010, and in early 2012 dominated the smartphone market share worldwide, which continues to this day. Android and iPhone devices popularized the smartphone form factor based on a large capacitive touchscreen, and led to the decline of earlier, keyboard- and keypad-focused platforms. Microsoft, for instance, discontinued Windows Mobile and started a new touchscreen-oriented OS from scratch, called Windows Phone. Nokia abandoned Symbian and partnered with Microsoft to
Market share Market share is said to be a key indicator of market competitiveness—that is, how well a firm is doing against its competitors. "This metric, supplemented by changes in sales revenue, helps managers evaluate both primary and selective demand in their market. That is, it enables them to judge not only total market growth or decline but also trends in customers’ selections among competitors. Generally, sales growth resulting from primary demand (total market growth) is less costly and more profitable than that achieved by capturing share from competitors. Conversely, losses in market share can signal serious long-term problems that require strategic