| Will Fragmentation Stagnate the Growth of Open Platforms in Mobile Devices? |
A guest editorial by Kenil Vora (Jul. 22, 2003)
Open platforms offer many advantages to the wireless industry. Operators favor it because of its ability to be customized for their services. Handset OEMs prefer it so that they can tailor the user interface (UI), reduce the expense of development, and differentiate their product offerings. Developers can be free in building applications based on the open platform. But the question remains: Will open platforms succeed on these merits alone?
Mobile devices have traditionally been based on proprietary operating systems allowing the user to explore different functions of the handset. This trend has changed with the emergence of standardized operating systems (OS) and middleware that reside on smartphones and high-end phones. A mobile platform can have either an open platform like Symbian or Java, or a closed platform like Microsoft Smartphone OS. Fragmentation of a platform occurs when it is broken up into various versions to bridge its shortcomings, thereby being rendered device-centric.
Open platforms like Java and Symbian have caught the attention of developers and licensees who can write applications for a variety of handsets. The numbers speak for themselves. Open platforms like Java will be deployed in 85% of all handsets shipped by 2008, according to ABI findings.
Open platforms offer many advantages to the wireless industry. Operators favor it because of its ability to be customized for their services. Handset OEMs prefer it so that they can tailor the user interface (UI), reduce the expense of development, and differentiate their product offerings. Developers can be free in building applications based on the open platform. But the question remains: Will open platforms succeed on these merits alone?
Symbian is an open platform licensed to various handset OEMs, many of whom are stakeholders in the company. Nokia, one Symbian's largest backers, introduced a middleware solution based on the optimization of the Symbian OS. Known as the Series 60 Platform, it is available with a customizable UI and a programmable platform on which to build applications. Complying with the OMA (open mobile alliance), Nokia licenses its platform along with Symbian in the bottom of the software stack. So far there has been a lukewarm response to this, since handset OEMs fear a Nokia monopoly in the handset OS and middleware market. Alternately, if handset OEMs decide to launch their own Symbian-based middleware, the solution offered actually diminishes the value of Symbian as an open OS.
A similar fate has already emerged with Sun Microsystems's J2ME platform, where vendors have created various APIs, making the platform device-specific and nearly impossible for the platform to be freely ported to multiple wireless devices. Though a single platform, a J2ME developer in reality is unable to freely port applications across device platforms without additional device-specific modifications. Though a newly introduced JTWI (Java technology for the wireless industry) process aims to fix this, ABI believes that the industry dream of having a single uniform platform may be shunned by fragmentation of open source-code based platforms.
And the problem lies at the root, where the interface of hardware and software converge. Unlike the PC industry where strict standards apply, wireless handsets vary drastically with each device. Handsets are broadly segmented into low-end, enhanced, smartphones and hybrid smartphone PDAs. Each of these devices differs in form factor, display type, display size, processing speed, battery life, and other features.
So maybe the wireless industry really needs Microsoft. Consider the Pocket PC devices offered by various OEMs: most of them have a roughly uniform display size, form factor, and interface. Developers have been writing applications on Microsoft's platforms for over two decades and portability among devices is not an issue. With limited flexibility offered by the Mobile 2003 platform for MS Smartphones, Microsoft has a chance to reach far ahead in the race against open source-code based platforms. But unless the company reaches a deal with major OEMs, it may not be able to make much headway. Wireless handsets require a much more coordinated effort when compared to PCs and PDAs. Replicating its success in this arena may prove difficult for Microsoft. The company's attempts to make a dent in the wireless industry have thus far been tainted with bad publicity, due partly to conflicts with Sendo and others.
Kenil Vora is an analyst with Allied Business Intelligence, a technology market research firm that publishes research and technology intelligence on the wireless, automotive, electronics, networking, and energy industries.
Copyright (C) 2003, Allied Business Intelligence Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduced by WindowsForDevices.com with permission.
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