That the Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has steadily gained from its connection with the Google Android operating system is evident from the fact that it has grown to its present fourth-ranking position over time, as per Gartner statistics.

With almost 10 percent of the smartphone buyers in North America already having gone in for HTC-manufactured handset in the 2010 first quarter; the $1.9 billion second-quarter sales, reported by the company on Tuesday, further mark a notable 58 percent year-on-year rise.

As such, the sales of HTC handsets has surpassed those of Samsung, Nokia, and Palm handsets – with HTC now ranking behind the BlackBerry-maker, Research in Motion RIM); the iPhone-maker, Apple; and Motorola, the maker of Droid X and other handsets.

HTC produced its first smartphone – the T-Mobile G1, which was the first phone to make use of the Android OS - in the US in 2008.

Furthermore, with the recent launch of the HTC EVO, the company has become the first phone maker in the US to have produced a handset that boasts access to the new, speedy 4G network. Like most of the other HTC phones, the EVO is also powered by the Android OS.

Noting that HTC is the fastest growing handset maker in history, analyst Richard Doherty, of Envisioneering Group, said: “HTC is the model of the new Asia. They’re very quick and very responsive.”