Slowdown accelerates Linux growth in mobiles

BANGALORE, INDIA: With deteriorating global economic conditions making their impact felt in the wireless industry, handset OEMs and mobile network operators are looking towards Linux-based operating systems to cut costs and diversify handset portfolios.

While Linux-based operating systems making their presence felt in the mobile handset market for years, growth has been slow and steady until recently. However, recent announcements from Motorola, Vodafone, HTC, and Huawei, among others, all stating that Linux-based operating systems will figure in their upcoming handset releases, clearly demonstrate that OEMs and operators are ready to embrace Linux on a larger scale.

Chris Schreck, research analyst, IMS, says: “There are multiple factors driving the growth of the market for Linux in mobile handsets. In the current economy, the need to manage costs has pushed OEMs and operators toward the potential licensing and royalty savings available with Linux. At the same time, consolidation in the Linux market and work by standards groups like the LiMo Foundation, Open Mobile Terminal Platform, the Open Handset Alliance, and Open Mobile Alliance have gone a long way to remove the fragmentation that had hindered market growth."

"The end result is a mobile market driven to Linux to save on development costs and a Linux developer community more capable of meeting that demand than ever before,” he added.

IMS Research believes that the Linux mobile developer community will grow, as Linux solutions increase their presence in the marketplace. The emergence of successful alternative distribution channels for mobile handset applications has provided a powerful incentive for third party developers, and consequently, they will play an increasingly important role in the mobile handset market.

As OEMs and operators fight to associate their handset with the latest and greatest applications, they will need to consider the broader development community’s preference for open source platforms, like Linux. Those in the Linux market are hoping that this initial surge in mobile handsets featuring Linux-based operating systems is only the beginning of a much larger snowball effect.

In the smartphone market alone, IMS Research expects Linux-based operating systems to penetrate over 30 percent of the market by 2013. As mobile handset shipments continue to fall victim to the gloomy economic climate, it is likely that OEMs and network operators will continue to look to Linux, bypassing the traditional licensing model, and cutting development costs in the process.