If
Google's ambitions for its recently-launched Android smartphone operating system
are fully realized, the new OS will represent a tipping point in attitudes
towards the whole concept of a smartphone. This tectonic shift will affect
consumers, handset manufacturers and, most critically, mobile network
operators.
According
to ABI Research director Kevin Burden, "If Android is to become the ubiquitous
mobile phone platform that Google and the Open Handset Alliance hope it will be,
it will be because operators and handset OEMs recognize the value to their own
business models of using standard platforms, not because wireless subscribers
clamor for feature-rich phones, much less an Android-based
phone."
The
current smartphone market accounts for only 14% of worldwide handsets. That
doesn't help Google's aspirations to have a platform used by a wide population
to whom they can market their services. Google needs to convince handset
manufacturers to replace the real-time operating systems that now power the
majority of mobile phones. In the smartphone market of the future, users won't
always be aware of what they're buying: they will buy simply because they're in
the market for a phone, not specifically a smartphone.
The
challenge is to convince operators that having more phones in their lineups and
more subscribers using those phones based on standardized operating systems is
good for them. Standardization delivers easier manageability at the technical
level and greater ease in marketing services to all their
subscribers.
"The
smartphone market has been moving in this direction for some time now," Burden
continues. "If Android is a success, it may be the tipping point that marks the
start of a profound change in the smartphone market."
ABI
Research's "Smartphone and OS
Markets" report provides a
thorough overview of the smartphone market, concentrating on key developments in
both device feature set expansion and the evolving software landscape. The
report covers important topics including specific features and technologies that
enhance the user interface, in addition to the encroachment of open source
software into the smartphone domain.
It forms part of the
firm's Mobile Devices Research
Service.