The global smartphone market grew 50 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2010 (2Q10), driven in part by makers of smartphones powered by Google’s Android operating system, according to a new report by IDC.

Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 63 million units in 2Q10, compared to 41.9 million units in the same period one year ago. For the first half of 2010, vendors shipped a total of 118.3 million units, up 54 percent from the 76.8 million units shipped during the first half of 2009.

Google’s smartphone partners, such as HTC and Samsung, posted the highest year-over-year growth rates among the top 10 vendors in 2Q10. Four out of the ten vendors, who primarily ship Android-powered smartphones, experienced year-over-year growth rates of more than 100 percent. The top suppliers of Android devices last quarter, on a unit shipment basis, was HTC.

Emerging smartphone suppliers, such as HTC, that are allied closely with Google gained share at the expense of the historic top smartphone players last quarter," says Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker program.

"This is largely a result of greater consumer interest in smartphones generally and Android devices in particular."

Nokia was the top smartphone vendor in 2Q10 with 38.1 percent of the market followed by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion with 17. 8 percent. Apple captured 13.3 percent of the smartphone market, followed by HTC at 7.6 percent and Samsung with 4.8 percent.

"The worldwide smartphone market will continue this explosive growth in the second half of 2010, setting up a critical starting point for 2011," says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

"That more smartphone models will be launched is a given, but just as important is the anticipated launch of several refreshed operating systems. Both BlackBerry and Symbian^3 are poised with fresh, yet familiar experiences while Windows Phone 7 promises a complete break from previous versions. All these are expected to launch in the second half of 2010, and their reception among end-users will indicate their future in this fast-growing segment of the market for 2011 and beyond."