High R&D Costs Could Lead to Mobile OS Consolidation

BOSTON-- The high R&D costs involved in developing a brand new mobile OS - and building an ecosystem around it - could potentially consolidate the smartphone OS market, according to the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report, "Symbian's Dominance Fading as Mobile Software Platform Market Becomes More Crowded." However, this doesn't mean that the door is closed for new entrants, and Strategy Analytics predicts that Nokia's Linux based Maemo platform could potentially feature in future smartphones.

The majority of smartphone manufacturers lack their own OS and ecosystems, and are using a common platform to rapidly build market share in the high-growth smartphone market.

Stuart Robinson, Director of the company's Handset Component Technologies service commented, "Strategy Analytics believes that smartphone Operating Systems with a strong consumer focus and a strong R&D budget will sustain competitive advantages and take huge market share in the future. In this respect, we place our bets on Android, iPhone OS and Symbian."

Sravan Kundojjala, Analyst, adds, "Strategy Analytics estimates that smartphone OS vendors currently spend $100-$200 million on R&D on average. This, along with the arduous work involved in creating an ecosystem around the OS, could potentially force handset vendors to consolidate their efforts around one or two third-party licensable Operating Systems."

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Strategy Analytics, Inc. provides timely and actionable market intelligence focused on opportunities and disruptive forces in the areas of Automotive Electronics and Entertainment, Broadband Connected Home, Mobile & Wireless Intelligent Systems and Virtual Worlds. Headquartered in Boston, MA, with offices in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, S. Korea and China, Strategy Analytics works with clients through annual multi-client services, management team workshops and custom consulting engagements. For more information, please visit http://www.strategyanalytics.com/