This report considers the development of the open source mobile Operating Systems (OS) from the not for profit organisation Symbian Foundation (formed originally by Nokia) and Android (formed by Google) which are vying to be the open source smart phone mobile OS of choice for a range of handset manufacturers and mobile network operators.
There is a race taking place between the handset manufacturer (led by Nokia) and the content provider (led by Google) to become the leading provider of open source mobile OS for the smart phone.
Nokia, the owner of the Symbian Foundation, has made the company into a non for profit organisation and has recruited a number of companies to join as members and is converting various mobile OS into one unified version based on open source standards. In terms of worldwide licences for mobile OS, it is Symbian which has traditionally held up to half of the world market, largely thanks to the dominance of Nokia in European markets. But over time Symbian has lost market share to other OS mobile providers including Apple's OSX and RIM's Blackberry OS.
Open source mobile OS services are being promoted by both Google (through Android) and Nokia (through Symbian) as a lower cost alternative to proprietary mobile OS standards and Microsoft's licence-based Windows Mobile OS standard.
But the goal of the new mobile OS standards is to become the centre of a sustainable mobile ecosystem, which includes handset, applications, content and provide recurring revenues to the handset or content company.
These developments affect the key foundations beneath the mobile telecoms industry, namely handsets and services. This report will show how rivals can compete given the current composition of the mobile value chain, with pressure on margins intensifying.
Visiongain: Google Android and Nokia Symbian: Increasing content, service and advertising market opportunities from competition in mobile OS, 2009-2014:
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