About 200,000 smartphones based on Google`s Android operating system are sold every day, CEO Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday.

Schmidt told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Lake Tahoe that Android -- a mobile software launched just over a year ago -- was gaining momentum in a fiercely competitive tech arena.

Android is now on smartphones made by a number of different manufacturers, including a revitalized Motorola`s Droid -- the best-selling Android handset in the second quarter among U.S. consumers -- and Taiwan`s HTC.

Google said recently that 160,000 Android phones had been activated each day during the second quarter, up from 65,000 in the first quarter.

BDST: 1355 HRS, 5 August 2010