Mobile OS Race

The race for 3rd place

By Anca Gagiuc on Apr 18, 2013 in Technology

The mobile ecosystem is constantly making room for innovation and new applications. Smartphone operating systems are racing for market position. At the moment, a duopoly is in place: Linux-based Android, followed closely by Apple’s iOS. The third spot is under contention between Microsoft’s Windows, Blackberry’s Blackberry 10, and Firefox’s Firefox OS. Who will occupy the bronze podium and what’s their impact on the market?

Gartner tracks technology shipments and predicts that the worldwide PC market will drop 7.6 percent this year, due to user behavior. Customers are flocking to mobile, an economically favorable alternative to a laptop/PC, and application addiction is very real. Tablets will see a 69.8 percent increase in shipments from 2012 and smartphones will grow from 675 million to 1 billion units, according to Gartner’s data research.

Google’s free Android is currently the most popular smartphone OS, holding two thirds of the market. Trying to ensemble the intuitive, easy and delightful experience  iOS offers, combined with the power and flexibility of the traditional Windows desktop OS, Android became the “Windows” of mobile operating systems. With multiple manufacturers, each with their own price, quality level, and features, Android is much easier to customize, being extremely flexible. Today there’s a device running on Android for every pocket, purpose, and desire.

Apple’s iOS, not even available for licensing, has less than one third of the market; its iOS platform is by far the most polished, prestigious and popular of them all. After all, it’s Apple that kicked off the modern post-PC era. iOS is reliable, its hardware is gorgeous and cutting–edge, and iTunes is the largest library of apps and content. It’s so easy to use an iPad, that everyone can understand how it works, even toddlers. For the average consumer with little to no interest in creation and productivity, iOS is the perfect platform; some industries, like the medical and music ones, hold the iPad as the preferred device, driving a high number of apps. For other professional industries, a more powerful and flexible mobile OS platform is needed.

The classics, recreated

Microsoft is working hard to maintain a top position on a market with an ever-shrinking PC segment that’s being replaced by the more comfortable tablets. The release of Windows Phone 8 last year is a result of concern for the current times. Windows maintains a distinct focus on corporate productivity as its primary role; if you want the best integration with Windows domains, Exchange, Office, and their intranet and cloud solutions, Windows Phone 8 is unmatchable. The sacrifice stands in Microsoft’s philosophy that’s being reflected through powerful business apps; for this, the social integration is the least even, the consumer content and apps are yet very sparse, and the touchscreen platform is the least intuitive.

“The following period is crucial for them,” research vice president Carolina Milanesi believes. “Winning the tablet and phone space is critical for them to remain relevant in this shift,” she commented in The Guardian. “We’re talking about hardware displacement here – but this shift also has wider implications for operating systems and apps. What happens, for instance, when Office isn’t the best way to be productive in your work?” Especially when knowing that Google has just released Quickoffice for Android and iOS, a move which shades the certainty that Office will continue to dominate on these platforms.

Latest figures place Microsoft in a distant third position in the smartphone and tablet markets. About 3 percent of the shipped devices in the fourth quarter of 2012 had Microsoft’s smartphone OS; compared to 20 percent of Apple’s iPhone and over 70 percent of Google’s Android – of which half connected to Google’s servers, Microsoft’s figure isn’t imposing enough to assure of the third position on the podium of mobile technology.

BlackBerry turned the QWERTY keyboard into the distinct lack of buttons of BlackBerry’s Z10; it’s a major facelift and a much needed update that brings it on the same functional level as iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 8. They created a phone that has space for personal and corporate use – “a workspace 100% controlled by IT, which can delete it without interfering in the personal side”, says Alex Manea, manager of security services. The UI doesn’t look different from other platforms, but the moment you hold it, you realize it’s different. Swiping horizontally and vertically feels so addictive that, absentmindedly, the iPhone or Android user will easily repeat them. The question now is whether they can catch up, because as Microsoft, they’re holding a mere 3 percent of the market share.

At the news that Mozilla prepares to launch its own mobile operating system, some reacted impulsively, being sure that yet another OS is redundant on a market that has plenty already. Others were skeptical that Microsoft’s near-infinite financial resources and complex ecosystem of complementary products will allow Firefox access on the market. But the truth is that focusing on multi-platform HTML5 development might solve most of the compatibility issues.

The success of another competitor would make the ‘duopoly’ focus more on innovation. For some, iOS has started to become stale, for others Android needs a lot of simplification, so if another OS (or other OSs) starts taking more market share, the features that make them successful will be placed on the fast track. At the same time, app developers will have more platforms to choose from, a new toy and a challenge at the same time. “The rise of a third major mobile platform would mean that companies that specialize in mobile app development will have to invest more time, effort and money into their apps,” Android Authority surmised recently.