The new models will be offered by other operators as well, with and possibly other operators expected to sell them.

With more phones and more operators, millions of Android devices are likely to be in the market in 2010, a big enough base to attract even more developers, and thus more and better applications, Howe said.

While Android's influence in the mobile market remains to be determined, the platform has made one thing clear: "If nothing else, it's validating the idea that touch-based smartphones are going to be a new category," Howe said.