Symbian-based handsets will maintain their share of the smartphone market despite the increasing popularity of emerging operating systems like Android, reports Juniper Research.

Shipments of open source handsets are expected to hit 106 million this year, 87 million of which will be based on the Symbian operating system. By 2014, Symbian handsets will comprise 81 percent of the open-source market in 2014 with 180 million shipments, according to the firm.

Over 60 percent of the smartphone market now uses an open-source operating system like Symbian, marking a significant shift away from proprietary operating systems. Together with shipments of Linux Mobile- and Android-based handsets, the total open source device market will exceed 220 million by 2014.

Propriety operating systems from Research In Motion, Microsoft, Palm and Apple remain popular but open-source platforms offer more opportunities for innovation, says Juniper. The firm expects a sharp growth in handset shipments over the next five years together with somewhat more modest increases of handsets shipped with Windows Mobile and BlackBerry platforms.