Android has overtaken BlackBerry as the most popular mobile OS in Indonesia with a market share of 52%, according to IDC.
But BlackBerry remained the top smartphone brand in the country in the second quarter of 2012, depsite a 6% QoQ decline.
That Android OS smartphones overtook BlackBerry OS this quarter is not surprising, since there are more than 10 vendors currently offering Android smartphone models in Indonesia.
But it is significant as Indonesia is one of RIM's most important markets, and one of the few where it remains on top.
IDC observes that international smartphone makers using the Android OS such as Samsung, HTC and Sony have all made inroads into the market
Darwin Lie, market analyst for client devices research at IDC Indonesia, says that the increase in shipments of Android-based phones in Indonesia is driven not just by its affordability but also the broad range of applications and growing popularity of touchscreens.
The delay in the launch of BlackBerry 10 - which is causing buyers to wait until 2013 for new models - has also contributed to the shift in OS preference.
In terms of overall mobile phone shipments, results from IDC's Asia-Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows that the Indonesian mobile phone market grew 10% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 25% year-on-year (YoY).
Feature phone shipments in particular showed significant improvement from the previous quarter, while smartphone shipments posted a 6% decline QoQ although they registered 13% growth YoY. The growth in the overall market was mainly due to vendors stocking up and launching promotional campaigns in preparation for the Idul Fitri festive season.
With more and more customers preferring touchscreen-based phones, IDC expects smartphone shipments in Indonesia to exceed 7 million units in 2012. Lately, vendors have been launching a slew of new products and offering smartphones from as low as $50.