Good news for those enjoying the big-screen Android delights of the HTC Desire or sawn-off charms of its attractive sibling the HTC Wildfire, they will both be getting souped up to the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system in the near future.

Whilst HTC’s Benelux boss Mark Moons recently tweeted that continental folks could be enjoying Android v2.2 or ‘Froyo’ as soon as tomorrow, China’s imminent launch of the HTC Wildfire deals with the issue by arriving ready to roll with the update straight out of the box.

As we’ve currently been told nothing more than a pre-Christmas launch prior to these announcements…this could mean that the UK might receive a chilled handset surprise even sooner than expected!

Google must be grinning from ear to ear after some remarkable results have surfaced which show that sales of Android phones in the UK have shot up by 350%. The stunning UK smartphones sales data was provided by marketing analysts GfK and shows that while Androids market share of the contract phone market was just 3% is Q1  2010, by Q2, i has risen to 13%, an astonishing rise in the space of a few months.

Here’s the GfK analysis in full:

Android Phones go from Strength to Strength in UK Contract Market

Android’s share of the UK mobile contract market has grown from 3% in Q1 2010 to reach 13.2% in Q2 2010, GfK Retail and Technology’s latest figures have revealed. During this period, while contract market sales grew by less than 1%, sales of Android phones increased by a staggering 350%.

Phones with an advanced Operating System* (OS) continue to grow in the contract market, reaching 66.7% in Q2 2010 compared to 55% in Q1 2010. Growth has been continuous since 2010 began and is expected to rise consistently throughout the rest of the year; GfK’s latest monthly data shows that in June, phones with advanced OS represented 73.5% of the contract market.

“The figures suggest an increasing number of consumers are now asking for Android handsets by name,” commented GfK analyst Megan Baldock. “Operating Systems are no longer simply a by-product but a key selling point in their own right.”

Clearly, an increasing amount of punters are looking for an alternative to just the usual iPhone contracts.

Source: EuroDroid