2010 was a good year for smartphones and an even better one for Android.

Information from the IDC, who track European Mobile Phones, shows that Android sales have increased from 470,000 units in 2009 to 7.9 million in 2010. That is an amazing 1,580% growth year-on-year mainly thanks to the amount of operators who are using the operating system.

Other companies also increased their share with Apple's iOS seeing a growth of 66 per cent and Microsoft seeing an 18 per cent year on year increase.

In related news via mobileindustyreview, Tesco has reported that they have seen a rapid increase in the sales of Android smartphones at the start of 2011. In-fact, in February Android sales overtook iPhone sales whereas before Christmas the iPhone was outselling Android phones by 2 to 1.

When you combine the data from both stories it looks like 2011 could be an even better year for Android than 2010. Especially when you consider the amount of tablets Android is now going to feature in.