Firefox Mobile OS Coming To Crowded Field

In the world of mobile devices, there are a number of operating systems which drive the mobile phones and tablets. The biggest ones are Apple's iOS and Google's Android in the market. Along with a number of other players, it seems that things are fairly diverse in the products that are available and manufacturers are choosing to supply with their mobile devices. With all the competition, you would think that we are seeing mobile OS software which meets the needs of the market. And you would be wrong.

This month, we talked about Ubuntu as a mobile OS and how they are preparing to supply their Linux version to smart phones and tablets. And now, we are hearing that Mozilla is coming with the Firefox Mobile OS to the market some time this year. So, we now have 2 new mobile OS products showing up this year. That creates an interesting challenge to break into the market given the strength of the existing mobile OS software.

And with the Firefox Mobile OS, early testing by some has indicated that it does not perform as well as it should. But, it has just been announced, so we are not surprised that issues have been found and there is plenty of time to get them resolved. One of the strengths for the Firefox OS is that it is being written from the ground up as a brand new product. And it is based on HTML5 using the current standards of the day, so all the code is based on web standards. This may be exactly what they need to drive the phones and tablets for today and the future.

Adding to the discussions is the fact that there are 18 wireless carriers to the platform. Not that we are going to see new phones showing up in the next few months, but they are coming. Since it certainly looks like this is going after a different market than others, we expect to see most of the sales of mobile device using the Firefox OS to be in countries where the people purchasing phones are concerned about price. And with that idea, they are going after the lower end of the market to start and grow from there.

With the release of the Firefox OS by the middle of the year, it is not going to be arriving any time soon in the US. The current estimates are for some time in 2014 to arrive here on mobile phones and tablets. The US market is dominated by Apple and Google right now and that dominance may not be the best thing for consumers. With the announcement of the Firefox Mobile OS, it will be one to watch over the next year as to whether they are able to grab enough of the market share to become a threat to Google.