Google's Android Platform Winning Smartphone Battle

STOCKHOLM (Dow Jones)--Google Inc.(GOOG) was the biggest beneficiary of strong global handset sales in the second quarter, as smartphones based around its open Android platform outperformed peers.

Shipments of Android-based devices, such as HTC Corp's (2498.TW) Desire and Sony Ericsson's (SNE, ERIC) Xperia X10, surged to 10.6 million units, increasing the operating system's market share to 17.2% from 1.8% at the expense of rival platforms such as Symbian -- the main operating system in Nokia Corp's (NOK) smartphones.