Hardware

Linux Set to Dominate the Smartphone Market

By EAN ⋅ August 29, 2007 ⋅  Email this Post ⋅  Print this Post ⋅ Post a Comment

I read an interesting story today on LinuxDevices.com which speculated that Linux will control as much as 31% of the share of smartphone operating systems by the year 2012. If it continues to grow in the marketplace at a compound rate of around 75%, that is.

The study attributed several requirements for the success of Linux in the smartphone marketplace. First, the rise of mobile broadband as a necessary technology. Also, Linux is rather easy to use as the groundwork for companies looking to develop their own smartphone operating systems. Finally, Linux’s success requires that manufacturers actually start to consider Linux as a viable product for their phones. All of this, of course, hinges on whether or not Microsoft and other companies will continue to try and crush Linux in the courtroom.

So can Linux really hope to reach the popularity that the study thinks it can? In China, Linux can already be found in a third of all smartphones. Perhaps it won’t be long until we see those kinds of numbers in the United States. Let’s hear your opinion - can Linux hold it’s own against already well known smartphone operating systems like Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and current leader Symbian OS? And what about OS X - does it have a future in the cell phone market?

Read the full story here.