Commercial Mobile OS Suppliers Learning to Co-exist as OEMs Look to Increase Adoption of Open Source Platforms
Today’s mobile devices are more dependent on robust, complex operating systems capable of supporting a diverse ecosystem of new software applications. According to VDC’s recently published report on mobile operating systems, these and other software components play a vital role for OEMs in the differentiation of their mobile devices, as advanced user interfaces, maximized use of hardware capabilities, and other unique user experiences are enabled by these software products.
However, operating system platforms maintained by industry consortia and through other open source projects are becoming increasingly popular in mobile devices, a trend which has impacted commercial suppliers in this market. While the commercial market is dominated by Microsoft, momentum behind consortia-based platforms has driven other commercial suppliers to broaden their product and services portfolio to offer additional support and services for open source platforms in addition to their proprietary offerings. Many of these new services are centered on Android, including Enea’s Android Competence Center, Mentor Graphics’ services and support for Android-based devices, MontaVista’s Rapid Deployment Program for Android, the Wind River Platform for Android, and others.
These product and service offerings are not new initiatives however. Rather, they are the continuation and evolution of strategies employed by operating system vendors over the past decade. The unrelenting maturation and adoption of open source technologies such as Linux have placed constant pressures on traditional embedded operating system vendor business models and bottom lines.
However the bigger question today is - If few OS vendors could achieve profitability around Linux before Android, can any make money now when there is an even greater reliance on professional services?
VDC explores these and other critical issues within the market for mobile operating systems solutions in the recently released report, Mobile Operating Systems, Volume 3 from Track 1 of VDC’s 2010 Embedded Software and Tools Market Intelligence Service.
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