Digitimes Research, the research division of Digitimes, today announced the results of their research into handset manufacturer shipping growth. They’ve predicted that Android, which can already be found on the majority of shipped handsets, will be fully 70% or more of the handset market by the end of 2012.

These numbers make sense when you consider that almost every handset manufacturer, including Samsung, Motorola, HTC, and others, are releasing multiple Android phones onto the market. Digitimes, in fact, attributes part of the rise to the increasing number of Android handset available in China.

Of course, the open-source nature of the Android platform allows manufacturers to slap a version of Android on any old touch-based device and call it a smartphone. There are plenty of inexpensive (or free), feature-poor Android phones on the market, which are most likely padding Android’s numbers. Plenty of these Android users still pine for a “cool” Apple device, and many might switch if they can gather the funds.

Another finding of the Digitimes research that will surprise no one is that BlackBerry and Symbian devices will continue to see shipment declines this year. Specifically, BlackBerry device shipments are predicted to decline 40% and Symbians will decline 65%. In encouraging news for Microsoft, though, Windows Phone shipments are slated to increase 108%, meaning Nokia’s support of the platform might be starting to pay off.