According to the research firm Strategy Analytics’ May 11 report, Google’s Android Operating System is set for ‘big things’ in 2009 – what with a projected 900 percent growth rate!

The momentous growth of Google’s Android mobile OS will largely result from the increasing interest from vendors, developers, and operators chiefly because of Android’s comparatively economical licensing mold, its semi-open-source structure, and Google’s support for cloud services. Already, the number of smartphones to use the OS has increased, and T-Mobile also anticipates a shift of more of its mobile phones to Android.

The aforesaid report, titled “Global Smartphone Vendor Market Share by Region: 2008,” analyses the growth in the smartphone market both region-wise and operating system-wise. The report’s author, Tom Kang, opines that the Android OS will by far outpace the Apple iPhone OS - the second fastest-growing smartphone OS – which is expected to grow by 79 percent this year; followed by the robust RIM BlackBerry – the second-biggest overall smartphone OS in the US last year.

Saying that the Android will be expanding from a lower user base vis-à-vis the other operating systems, Kang said: “The Android mobile operating system from Google gained early traction in the United States in the second half of 2008 and it is gradually spreading its presence into Europe and Asia during 2009.”