Wary of iOS-Android duopoly, LG & Foxconn turn to Firefox
Apple's iOS and Google's Android dominate the mobile computing segment, running on more than nine out of ten devices, but now a major Android manufacturer and a major Apple supplier are beginning to look elsewhere in order to pull away from the duopoly,
The past several days have seen reports that Foxconn is diversifying its business in light of declining profits from its work as an Apple supplier. Foxconn is planning to produce its own branded accessories that would be compatible with Apple's devices.
Beyond that development, though, the Apple supplier is also teaming up with Mozilla to produce a device that runs the Firefox OS, according to Focus Taiwan (via Engadget).
The two companies will reportedly announce their new partnership on June 3, at which point they will also show off a device running Firefox OS, a Mozilla-built operating system with HTML 5 at its core. The Foxconn-Mozilla device is said to be a tablet.
In the Firefox OS alliance, Foxconn would be in the company of a number of carriers and manufacturers that are supporting the HTML 5-based platform. Another manufacturer, South Korea's LG, is also preparing to release devices running Firefox OS and other alternative OSes.
Much in the same way that Foxconn is looking to reduce its dependence on Apple, or at least to diversify its options, LG is looking to lessen its own dependence on Google's Android.
"The current duopoly of Google and Apple is not healthy for the market," LG Mobile vice president Wong Kim told Dutch site AllAboutPhones.
LG's smartphones run Google's Android operating system, but the company has struggled to step out of the shadow of Samsung, which sells the most smartphones worldwide and is second only to Apple in terms of profitability in the market. LG also bought WebOS ? formerly the operating system powering Palm's ill-fated devices ? from HP earlier this year, but that system will likely go toward powering LG's smart HDTV sets.
While the smartphone segment was once dominated by companies such as Nokia and Research in Motion (now BlackBerry), the emergence of Apple's iOS and, later, Google's Android largely relegated competitors to second-tier status. Taken together, the two account for more than 90 percent of all smartphones shipped worldwide.
Just as iOS and Android dominate the mobile operating system sector, so too do Apple and Samsung dominate the industry in terms of profit. Those two companies together account for 100 percent of the industry's profits, when taking into account the losses of their competitors' mobile businesses.
The coming year will see the release of a number of alternative operating systems in addition to Firefox OS. The Firefox platform is targeted at developing nations, but it will compete with phones running Samsung's Tizen, Ubuntu for Phones, and Jolla, developed by former employees of Nokia.
The past several days have seen reports that Foxconn is diversifying its business in light of declining profits from its work as an Apple supplier. Foxconn is planning to produce its own branded accessories that would be compatible with Apple's devices.
Beyond that development, though, the Apple supplier is also teaming up with Mozilla to produce a device that runs the Firefox OS, according to Focus Taiwan (via Engadget).
The two companies will reportedly announce their new partnership on June 3, at which point they will also show off a device running Firefox OS, a Mozilla-built operating system with HTML 5 at its core. The Foxconn-Mozilla device is said to be a tablet.
In the Firefox OS alliance, Foxconn would be in the company of a number of carriers and manufacturers that are supporting the HTML 5-based platform. Another manufacturer, South Korea's LG, is also preparing to release devices running Firefox OS and other alternative OSes.
Much in the same way that Foxconn is looking to reduce its dependence on Apple, or at least to diversify its options, LG is looking to lessen its own dependence on Google's Android.
"The current duopoly of Google and Apple is not healthy for the market," LG Mobile vice president Wong Kim told Dutch site AllAboutPhones.
LG's smartphones run Google's Android operating system, but the company has struggled to step out of the shadow of Samsung, which sells the most smartphones worldwide and is second only to Apple in terms of profitability in the market. LG also bought WebOS ? formerly the operating system powering Palm's ill-fated devices ? from HP earlier this year, but that system will likely go toward powering LG's smart HDTV sets.
While the smartphone segment was once dominated by companies such as Nokia and Research in Motion (now BlackBerry), the emergence of Apple's iOS and, later, Google's Android largely relegated competitors to second-tier status. Taken together, the two account for more than 90 percent of all smartphones shipped worldwide.
Just as iOS and Android dominate the mobile operating system sector, so too do Apple and Samsung dominate the industry in terms of profit. Those two companies together account for 100 percent of the industry's profits, when taking into account the losses of their competitors' mobile businesses.
The coming year will see the release of a number of alternative operating systems in addition to Firefox OS. The Firefox platform is targeted at developing nations, but it will compete with phones running Samsung's Tizen, Ubuntu for Phones, and Jolla, developed by former employees of Nokia.
Comments
Oh goodie! Now we can add Foxconn to the growing list of former Apple partners turn back stabbing enemies.
Ubuntu is so much better and interesting than this...
And Tizen is so much more interesting than Ubuntu or firefox OS
Apple helps Foxconn build scale then Foxconn uses that scale to be a large competitor to Apple, this all sounds very familiar.
Given Apple and Mozilla give away and do all the developing work for software, it should be very easy to Foxconn to branch off into its own line of smartphones. The probelm for them is brand recognition. I'm sure they can produce a might cheap phone though.
Apple needs to keep an eye on this with a possible shifting towards Pegatron being the result.
Motorola
Google
Samsung
Foxconn
Apple needs to write better non-compete clauses with its suppliers!
(1) FirefoxOS sounds a lot like webOS. LG bought webOS, hmm...
(2) Note to LG: release a kick ass webOS phone. Would be the only possibility that might get this heavy into the Apple ecosystem since the 80's iPhone user to switch platforms.
Other thoughts:
• Is Android as it exists today going to be around in three years? I am starting to wonder. With all these Android hardware manufacturers struggling to differentiate themselves, and Samsung working on its own OS, I can see it becoming a highly fractured and branched OS that ends up sharing only the basic functionality.
http://www.strategosinc.com/articles/apple-foxconn-strategy.htm
How so? From what I've seen Ubuntu seems more robust of a smartphone and tablet OS than Titzen which Samsung seems to be pushing toward their feature phones devices.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macFanDave
Microsoft
Motorola
Google
Samsung
Foxconn
Apple needs to write better non-compete clauses with its suppliers!
Yes, but Apple really isn't hurting that badly. They definitely need not to become complacent and they need to protect themselves against becoming the tech world's r & d dept, but their true weapons are their design, the quality and execution of their products, the usability of their software and services, and their marketing. Above all Apple needs to develop their primary weapons.
Apple's producing more products than ever via Foxconn, so please explain your claim that their profits are declining.
Or are you just mindlessly repeating the unsupported (and self-contradictory) claims of that WSJ hit piece?
What's next, is AppleInsider going to start calling Apple "beleaguered"?
Seriously, step it up, "Kevin Bostic".
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1618978
And Tizen is so much more interesting than Ubuntu or firefox OS
How so? From what I've seen Ubuntu seems more robust of a smartphone and tablet OS than Titzen which Samsung seems to be pushing toward their feature phones devices.
I read that Ubuntu was the overwhelming favorite among the tech judges who voted it the winner when comparing it to Tizen and Firefox at the recent Mobile World Congress.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-57571750-78/ubuntu-touch-beats-firefox-os-to-win-best-of-mwc-from-cnet/
Does it have the word "elephant" in it?
I always have problems reading that word.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Ubuntu is so much better and interesting than this...
I was thinking the same thing. The Ubuntu mobile OS is pretty amazing. Not sure how useful it would be without an app ecosystem but probably as many if not far more than firefox.
"A major Android manufacturer"? LG? Compared to Samsung? That's stretching it to the breaking point.
Have read recently that Google wants to gradually dump Android and move to ChromeOS instead where it still has total control...starting in a big way around mid-2014. So there's another mobile OS coming to confuse things even more, in addition to all the others! This could be good for Apple - we'll see...