Electronics research firm Gartner is predicting that: “The worldwide mobile operating system market will be dominated by Symbian and Android, as the two OSs will account for 59.8 percent of mobile OS sales by 2014.” The study goes onto predict that Android will oust BlackBerry maker Research In Motion from the number two spot at some point this year and will contest Nokia’s mobile OS — Symbian — for the top spot in 2014. Gartner writes:
Gartner predicts that by 2014, open-source platforms will continue to dominate more than 60 percent of the market for smartphones. Single-source platforms, such as Apple’s iOS and Research In Motion’s OS, will increase in unit terms, but their growth rate will be below market average and not enough to sustain share increase. Windows Phone will be relegated to sixth place behind MeeGo in Gartner’s worldwide OS ranking by 2014.
So my opinion on this matter?
I know its been used to death, however, The VHS Vs Betamax Analogy fits. Sony invented the Betamax videotape format. JVC the VHS standard. Sony's was better quality! VHS was known to be decent! Sony tightly controlled who made Beta Machines. (Sony and sister Sanyo) JVC licensed it's VHS rights to anyone who was interested in building VHS machines. What resulted was a healthy competition for VHS machines that were much cheaper than Sony's offerings. And a stroll through the video store revealed a much wider selection for VHS movies because there were so many more VHS machines in consumer's homes.Today, we have the Apple iOS. (Betamax) an Operating system that in many ways set the standard for what a SmartPhone should be! Since it's debut, it's been offered on one carrier. The only models that are offered are the models that Apple has released. Hardware has improved with each new iteration, but the improvements have all been incremental.
But then we have Android.(VHS) It's a new kid on the block, but it's being put on hardware from heavyweights like HTC, Samsung, LG, and Motorola. This Operating system is available on varying hardware, at varying pricepoints, but the top of the line devices pretty much cost the same as the iPhone. In some areas, the device is superior to the iPhone, and in other areas, it falls short! BUT it's available across all US carriers.
Symbian, although an Opensource OS, is basically only showing up on Nokia devices. But for years, these devices were the choice for consumers before Apple and Android got into the game. Symbian is huge in Europe and Japan!
This segment will continue to grow as more and more consumers recognize the advantages of these platforms. Apple and Rim will continue to do well for several years in my opinion. But as Android continues to advance, and grow, it will be hard to compete. I'm not writing off Apple! Jobs and Company have a winner both in hardware and software. But their current Business model is going to suffer if they don't get their products on all the major carriers worldwide.
Buds who Blog