Fonwar, the mobile community, has launched an Android version of its Instant Messenger (IM) client of the same name. The company says the successful launch of the Java version of its app earlier this year, combined with the monumental growth in the number of Android smartphones worldwide, have contributed to the company expediting the launch of Fonwar IM for Android.
“The mobile phone industry is an extremely fast-paced industry, and keeping up with current market trends are of utmost importance in surviving and succeeding in this highly competitive industry,” notes Fonwar CEO, Kent L. “We have decided to accelerate the launch of the Android version of Fonwar IM as its Java counterpart is doing very well. This launch is also a strategic move for us to capitalize on the increasing popularity of the Android OS.”
Market research firm Canalys revealed in late January this year that Google’s Android has become the leading platform in the smartphone market, as of Q4, 2010. Shipments of Android-based smartphones reached 32.9m, while devices running on Nokia’s Symbian platform trailed slightly at 31m worldwide. Canalys also reported that the worldwide smartphone market is soaring, with shipments of 101.2m units representing year-on-year growth of 89 per cent in Q4, 2010.
Android’s growth was helped by strong performances from LG, Samsung, Acer, and HTC who all posted significant growth for the fourth quarter of 2010. The biggest increase came from LG, which racked up 4,127 per cent growth. 
Canalys claimed that the recent meteoric growth of the Android OS shows no sign of stopping and that Android, which now has 32.5 per cent of the global smartphone market, will continue to grow rapidly in 2011. In fact, Canalys’s latest projections for 2011 predict Android to grow at twice the speed of its competitors, which is in line with Gartners latest report which states that Android is expected to register a substantial increase to register 49.2 per cent market share by the end of 2012.
Fonwar IM is downloaded by hundreds of thousands of users every day, and is gaining popularity in emerging countries such as Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, China and India. Fonwar says it expects to launch iPhone, BlackBerry and Symbian-compatible versions of Fonwar IM within the next few months.
