ABI Research has predicted that Linux-enabled smartphones – led by Google’s Android – will comprise 33% of the global smartphone market by 2015.
“With more than 60,000 smartphones shipping per day, Android has catapulted ahead of other Linux mobile platforms,” ABI senior analyst Victoria Fodale told TG Daily in an e-mailed statement.
“Due to its low cost and ability to be easily modified, Linux in the mobile market today is nearly as disruptive as Linux was in server markets a decade ago.”
According to Fodale, much of the interest that handset OEMs and mobile operators have in Android can be traced to its inherent flexibility.
“The Android platform can be modified so that OEMs can differentiate their products.
“And the licensing terms allow OEMs to innovate while still protecting proprietary work.”
However, Fodale emphasized that Android was “not without” competition in the crowded mobile marketplace.
“Industry heavyweights Intel, Nokia, and Samsung recently announced two other new Linux-based operating systems, bada and MeeGo,” she explained.
“The bada platform is also kernel-configurable so that it can run either on the Linux kernel or a real-time operating system (RTOS) kernel – which makes bada applicable to a wider range of devices than just smartphones.”
