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Linux Headed For Smartphone Domination?

Posted by simoniker on from the competition-is-none dept.

An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices has published a summary of research findings from Zelos Group that predicts that Linux is going dominate the smartphone market, beating out both Symbian and Microsoft. Zelos says that Linux scored highest on the two criteria that matter most to OEMs and carriers: openness and low cost. Microsoft scored lowest in these criteria. The article says Zelos believes Symbian beats Microsoft due to the flexibility of its licensing terms, and Microsoft prospects will be stymied to an extent by its desire to strictly manage how its brand is used. The conclusion: Linux will be the preferred operating system for connected devices."

3 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. It's all about the size. by cduffy · · Score: 5, Informative

    I happen to know some very skilled embedded systems developers, and at least one (also a Linux kernel maintainer) recently lost a possible contract with a very large multinational company because Linux turned out to be too large for the environment they wanted to run it in.

    Hopefully VSTa or a like open operating system better suited to very small environments (eCos? dunno) will become practical and popular for such usage. Linux is reasonable in larger embedded systems -- networking hardware and the like -- but its suitability becomes less and less as space constraints constrict (think 100K of RAM or less). Remember, it's not just the cost of the OS that's an issue -- the cost of the extra hardware to run it, and the loss of battery life, is also a dealbreaker.

    So no, I'm not convinced by this report; the summary makes it look too much like something concocted by talking to managers with insufficient engineering input.

  2. More research facts by prostoalex · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just last year, there were 3 million smartphones sold

    Symbian owned two-thirds of the market, Microsoft - 14%, Palm - 13%

    HP is becoming the biggest name in the industry with 33% market share globally, but Nokia has 78% in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

  3. Re:Potential Bias by Bill+Kendrick · · Score: 5, Informative

    Surely there's a chance that LinuxDevices has a bit of an interest in this?

    Looks like you didn't read carefully :^) LinuxDevices didn't do the study or release the report. They just wrote about it, just like Wired or CNN or Slashdot would...