EnTech: Windows Phone remains the last man standing from iOS and Android challengers

Windows Phone remains the last man standing from iOS and Android challengers


There are two major operating systems and a collection of minor ones, including Windows Phone, Blackberry OS and Samsung’s Tizen.
Of the minor smartphone operating systems only Windows Phone has been able to achieve any volume, with Blackberry for example only selling 1.6 million handsets in the last quarter and everyone else being lumped into Other.
Today we can add Mozilla’s  Firefox OS to the growing list of mobile operating systems who have tried and failed to make an impact on the smartphone world.
The operating system was intended to be a web-based OS designed for super-cheap $25 handsets.
Now Mozilla CEO Chris Beard has announced in an email to the company that they are giving up on their $25 ambitions, saying:
“We have not seen sufficient traction for a $25 phone. We will focus on efforts that provide a better user experience, rather than focusing on cost alone.”
He also revealed the company was planning to bring select Android apps to the platform, again indicating that the company was giving up on its plans to make websites into apps for the OS.
Future handsets would be more expensive, with Beard saying:
“While we won’t be able to live and breathe on each and every target device for our core product and technology, we can on phones that are powerful enough for each of us to make our primary phone.”
The changes amount to Mozilla giving up on any possibility of gaining volume in the smartphone world, and represents a significant scaling back on the ambitions of the program.
It is also an indication of how difficult it is to win buyers based only on low price, something Microsoft needs to bear in mind when going forward with Windows Phone.

Source

• the Verge