Google Activates 160,000 Android Smartphones A Day

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has claimed his company is activating 160,000 mobile phones running its Android mobile OS every single day.

The Guardian reports that the figure equates to around 4.8 million new Android-based smartphones enteringthe market each month, or roughly 15 million Android smartphones every quarter.

In an interview with the The Guardian, Schmidt claimed the Android platform's growth is accelerating at an exceptionally fast rate. Google says it activated 100,000 mobiles a day in the third week of May, indicating a growth of 60 per cent in just a month.

Schmidt also cited the popularity of Android-based devices among the developer community: "We've also seen a growth in the number of apps available for Android – there are now approximately 65,000, compared to only 50,000 a month ago."

Schmidt said that with a growth rate like this, Android could soon become the de facto standard operating system for mobile phones, with the potential to be the equivalent of Windows on PCs.