The rising smartphone sales in Australia is expected to further accelerate this year and among the competing brands, Apple, according to experts, currently holds the edge due to its iPhone's wide range of apps offerings.

While IDC Australia said on Tuesday that Android-powered handsets are also expected to experience growth in 2011, despite the security issues being faced by the Google mobile platform.

IDC analyst Mark Novosel told The Australian that from the 57 percent rise in smartphone shipments in 2010, the segment is projected to see growth of up to 70 percent in the current year.

The whole of Asia-Pacific region is forecasted by IDC to witness smartphone sale of 137 million units this year as against to the 84 million phones sold in 2010 while its rival firm, Gartner Australia has predicted of close to six million smartphones set to be sold locally in 2011, which should reach by 10 million over the next three years.

IDC said that Apple and Nokia currently occupies the top two spot of smartphone sales in Australia as Novosel stressed that iPhone attracts more Aussie buyers due to its "broad portfolio of available apps, as well as renowned usability and the power of Apple's brand."

Also, analysts are convinced that despite the lack of security measures carried by Google's Android, its popularity should shoot up in 2011 as apps that gained prominence in Apple's platform marked their crossover this year.

Industry experts have been calling on Google to upgrade Android's security protocols as the mobile OS increasingly attracts more apps developers and in the process, more security breaches.

Australian consumers, however, will not be kept from laying their hands on handsets that run Android-based apps in spite of Google's security woes, according to Novosel, who added that the "huge array of high-end Android smartphones heading our way this year, Android will really shine in the Australian market and become the dominant smartphone OS very soon."