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June 5, 2008

As many observers had predicted last year, the Linux operating system is seeing some strong growth in the mobile segment, especially in the smartphone market.

Wireless handset manufacturers and mobile carriers are embracing Linux and open-source software simply because it significantly reduces licensing and overall development costs, and it also provides higher flexibility for their specific applications.

That's why analyst firm ABI Research is predicting that Linux-based mobile devices will account for about 23.1 percent of the global smartphone market by 2013.

ABI Research vice president Stuart Carlaw said "in about five years from now, we expect that Linux will take over 23 percent of the smartphone market and will be the second most prevalent solution behind Symbian. And although LiMo and Android will take the lion's share of the market for Linux solutions, there will be opportunities for solutions such as Maemo which will be facilitated by the encroachment of the MID (Mobile Internet Device) form factor into the mobile devices landscape."

Last year, and despite some early problems in its initial development, Google's Android platform, which is now backed by the Open Handset Alliance, is becoming stronger and attracting considerable interest.

ABI also notes that the large population of developers who are already working with the platform is an indication that Android has real staying power and isn't just a passing fad. In a recent report about smartphones, ABI looks closely at emerging Linux-based mobile platforms and the impact that they will have on the wireless industry.

ABI sees the LiMo Foundation and the Open Handset Alliance as the two most prominent framework providers and contends that their platforms will account for most of the upcoming Linux mobile adoption.

Outside of the mobile phone sector, other Linux-based mobile platforms like Maemo and Moblin will see adoption on web tablet devices, some small form-factor subnotebook computers, and embedded systems in vehicles and buildings.

Intel is also heavily pushing Linux as a strong software solution for hardware platforms built on its Atom processor. The other emerging heavyweight in the mobile Linux arena is the LiMo platform, which was adopted in May by Verizon. Unlike Android, which has its own Java-based development framework and doesn't support native applications, LiMo supports the existing GTK+ toolkit which means that popular desktop applications could theoretically be ported to the platform.

Verizon moved towards the LiMo Foundation because it offers a more inclusive governance model and would allow the carrier to have more control over its own implementation of the platform.

Linux is rapidly advancing in the mobile and embedded space, and this trend will undoubtedly escalate as wireless phones with Android and LiMo reach the mobile market.

The benefits of open source adoption by mobile hardware makers are many. However, the most significant benefit to end users is that this will lead to richer third-party software ecosystems by making application development more accessible and a lot less costly to a wider scope of independent programmers all over the globe.

Source: Wireless Industry News.

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