Latest OS for Smartphones

Latest OS for Smartphones

The word ‘Smart’ in smart phones comes from the software they run and the position of smartphone supremacy is most often tracked in terms of operating system market share. Today’s smart phones are pocketable, Net-connected personal computers, and the OSs they use have a huge impact on their power and their personality.

The operating system has gained ground for the big boys battle for the lion’s share of the market.

Operating System Highlights

[info]Android OS[/info]

Android’s success in the market can be traced directly to Samsung, which accounted for 44.0% of all Android smartphones shipped in 2Q12 and totaled more than the next seven Android vendors’ volumes combined. Meanwhile, the next seven vendors were a mix of companies re-establishing their strategies or growing volumes within key markets. Also not to be overlooked was the growing relevance of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with the release of numerous models worldwide.

[info]iOS[/info] iOS posted double-digit growth, but not enough to keep up with the overall market. Demand for Apple’s flagship smartphone has cooled off now that the device has been available since October, and the rumors around the blogosphere have fueled speculation about a new design and features. Despite these trends, iOS remained the solid number two operating system behind Android worldwide, and greater than the total number of smartphones on the remaining platforms. [info]RIM BlackBerry[/info] BlackBerry, one of the pioneers and former leaders in the worldwide smartphone market, reached share levels not seen since the first quarter of 2009. BlackBerry has lost significant share to other operating systems in the consumer and enterprise segments. Now that RIM has delayed the release of new BlackBerry 10 smartphones out to 2013, BlackBerry remains vulnerable to the competition. [info]Symbian[/info] Symbian, for years the world’s most shipped OS, sunk to a new nadir last quarter. The 62.9% drop registered was its sharpest year-over-year drop ever. The decline of Symbian, precipitated by Nokia’s decision to make Windows Phone its primary smartphone OS, has accelerated due to lower sales in key economically developing geographies such as China as well as Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa. [info]Windows Phone[/info] Windows Phone 7/ Windows Mobile narrowed the gap between itself and BlackBerry last quarter in its bid to become the number 3 mobile OS in terms of market share. The share gains it made last quarter are due mostly to Nokia, which almost doubled its Lumia/Windows Phone shipments sequentially. Though it’s closing in on the third spot, Windows Phone is still a distant competitor to Android and iOS. Microsoft will need to generate additional momentum from Windows Phone 8 devices, which will be introduced this fall, if it is to narrow the share gap further between itself and the three mobile OS leaders.

[info]Linux[/info] Linux, a category largely comprised of Samsung’s Bada shipments, declined on a year-over year basis as Samsung’s smartphone sales are increasingly Android centric. In addition, Linux OS dependent vendors such as Panasonic are also migrating to Android, which contributed to the year-over-year decline. [info]Firefox OS[/info] Mozilla through its Firefox OS smartphone platform will be aiming to interrupt the market by targeting low-end devices with 256 megabytes of memory and a single-core 700 to 800MHz CPU. [info]Tizen OS[/info] Samsung has also started the war by bringing Tizen OS for smartphones in association with Intel. It will help Samsung to get its own OS and further strengthen its smartphone portfolio, spanning multiple operating systems. [info]MeeGo OS[/info] MeeGo OS from Jolla, a start-up company formed by number of former engineers and executives from Nokia’s MeeGo N9 division. It will target Chinese and European market. [info]Aliyun OS[/info] Alibaba’s Aliyun OS will only be targeting Chinese market but the launch was cancelled due to reported pressure from Google.

This chart is intended for public use in online news articles and social media.
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The mobile OS market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS but still Android continues to fire on all cylinders. Soon the smartphone market is going to get crowded with several new operating systems mentioned before. Let’s see how these upcoming operating systems will change the dynamics of the smartphone market.