The smartphone share is expanding.
In developed countries it is approaching/hitting 50% (and rising) of all phones sold.
Manufacturers deal with it differently.
There is only so much you can do with the available OS variations.
Limiting hardware: screen size and quality, resolution, CPU, other sensors is the way
it is done now in Android land and most likely will be done in iOS and WP7 land.
But this might not be enough to secure the well being of their high-end business.
The (big!) manufacturers don't want to be held hostage of the OS makers.
So, Samsung is toying with its Bada OS (very successful in some of continental Europe).
They even formed an alliance with Intel and re-christened MeeGo into Tizen to be run by the Linux Foundation.
Considering Samsung will become the biggest smartphone seller before the year ends, this activity is taken seriously.
Nokia - first forming the MeeGo alliance and then dropping out of it to put their weight behind WP7 - is also hedging their bets.
According to WSJ, Nokia is back to the drawing board with a Linux OS Meltemi that will be used in low-end phones.
Rumors claim Apple will also address the high/low end differentiation with two phones to be introduced in three days.
It is unknown how will Microsoft approach this issue (not that they really have to at this point).
HTC was rumored to be mulling the idea of getting a phone/tablet OS.
RIM most likely doesn't plan to be a player on the low-end.
Bottom line: the low-end is getting "smarter".
Hitting the right balance between beefed up low-end without cannibalizing the high-end requires strategic decisions...
Diogen.
EDIT:
What is it with the M-words for mobile OS names: Maemo, Moblin, MeeGo, Meltemi...
Superstition?
In developed countries it is approaching/hitting 50% (and rising) of all phones sold.
Manufacturers deal with it differently.
There is only so much you can do with the available OS variations.
Limiting hardware: screen size and quality, resolution, CPU, other sensors is the way
it is done now in Android land and most likely will be done in iOS and WP7 land.
But this might not be enough to secure the well being of their high-end business.
The (big!) manufacturers don't want to be held hostage of the OS makers.
So, Samsung is toying with its Bada OS (very successful in some of continental Europe).
They even formed an alliance with Intel and re-christened MeeGo into Tizen to be run by the Linux Foundation.
Considering Samsung will become the biggest smartphone seller before the year ends, this activity is taken seriously.
Nokia - first forming the MeeGo alliance and then dropping out of it to put their weight behind WP7 - is also hedging their bets.
According to WSJ, Nokia is back to the drawing board with a Linux OS Meltemi that will be used in low-end phones.
Rumors claim Apple will also address the high/low end differentiation with two phones to be introduced in three days.
It is unknown how will Microsoft approach this issue (not that they really have to at this point).
HTC was rumored to be mulling the idea of getting a phone/tablet OS.
RIM most likely doesn't plan to be a player on the low-end.
Bottom line: the low-end is getting "smarter".
Hitting the right balance between beefed up low-end without cannibalizing the high-end requires strategic decisions...
Diogen.
EDIT:
What is it with the M-words for mobile OS names: Maemo, Moblin, MeeGo, Meltemi...
Superstition?
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