Nowadays, when we are going to choose a new smartphone, one of the most basic differences in the market is in the operating system: you choose an Android device from the various manufacturers that partner with Google, or you go to Apple and its iOS. But until a few years ago, there were some competitors that either bothered or had their share of loyal consumers. What happened to them?
Why is there almost no rival for this duo today? And will any appear in the short term? This is Understand, the TecMundo board that explains what's behind the news you read every day on our website.
Here, we will list four reasons that help explain the current situation of mobile operating systems. They are not the only ones, they are not in order of importance and they all work together to make this scenario unfold. If you thought of any other reason, leave your comment for us!
The first reason is that it simply costs too much to develop an entire and very good platform, whether from scratch or close to it. And here we are talking about not only financial costs, but of course money is very important – even more so in times of layoffs and cost containment in technology companies. But this development also involves a lot of time, in addition to a huge amount of people involved.
And this workforce is both initial to create the platform and continuous, to constantly improve it and have services up and running. All this happens without much guarantee of return, so many companies prefer not to risk it. Google and Apple certainly spend a lot of all this to maintain Android and iOS, but at least they already have an established base.
And in some cases, functions created by new platforms may appear on them first and then end up “adapted” on rivals. This happens in markets like social networks all the time and also between Google and Apple, who are constantly adopting solutions from each other. With a third competitor still looking for space, this kind of killer feature adaptation would cause competitors to quickly lose the edge.
The second reason is that today the competition between the duo is too established, with both platforms well established in profile and attracting people for different reasons. Who wants a more integrated ecosystem, a hardware that is at least great, the objective interface and, why not, even the status, iOS is the clearest answer. Those who want flexibility and customization, in addition to choosing from a greater variety of devices depending on their budget, reason for use and technical specifications, go for Android.
According to Statista's 2022 data, the mobile operating system market looks like this: 71. 8% of the sector's share is Android, while 27. 6% stays with iOS.
This division is explained mainly by the greater offer and variety of devices with the Google platform, which is divided by manufacturers such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola and so on, while Apple alone carries the entire percentage of its system. The current third place has only 0. 05% and is KaiOS.
And it's okay if you don't know about this platform, because it is a very basic open source project and is more focused on cheap and simple cell phones. It's the feature phones, the ones that barely have features other than calling and messaging, unlike smartphones. Having a smart phone today is the market standard, but these more basic ones still find an audience for various reasons, from economics to not enjoying being connected all the time.
The rest of the percentage is distributed on systems that no longer receive updates, but have commercialized inventory or activated devices. Also, there is a small amount of market share for systems that are niche, as is the case with Sailfish. That is, it's not that there aren't others or that the person using them is wrong, but that their use barely scratches or worries the two leaders.
The third reason is specific to Android: its functioning as a platform allows modifications by the partner companies that produce the devices. And that can curb the will or need for manufacturers to develop or go after alternatives. Android offers a level of customization of interface, icons, extra functions and even allows the installation of third-party app stores.
Currently, it is no longer common for brands to modify the system that much, because it runs the risk of becoming a little heavier, but there are several differentials that some brands bring even though they are based on the same mold. Some old reviews indicate that Huawei's HarmonyOS is a highly modified version of Android, which the Chinese manufacturer has already denied. And this feature is not a problem with Android and it doesn't mean that it's all his fault!
The customized offer makes it difficult for manufacturers to go after an alternative and is related to the first reason, which is the cost of developing something from scratch if there is a possible partnership right next door. The fourth and final reason is that the latest attempts have proven that the task is very difficult even for giant companies, serving as a lesson or example for those who try to take the risk. A good example is Windows Phone, which for a few years was the third force in this dispute and in some markets, including Brazil, even achieved a very satisfactory performance and a loyal audience.
But it was abandoned by Microsoft for several reasons, which we even listed in a video here on Understand, and the company itself today uses Android on its two-screen device, the Surface Duo. Another strong competitor that also did not resist time and the market is BackBerry. It started very well focused on the corporate market and having the physical keyboard as a differential.
But that time passed and the manufacturer was unable to adapt, losing more and more space in device and operating system. Other alternatives that went wrong include Firefox OS, which came out on devices in Brazil, but was discontinued due to lack of interest from the market and partners; Ubuntu Touch, which passed to the care of the community, and webOS, an older system that belonged to Palm, passed to HP, was quickly disabled for mobile devices and today is the basis of the operating systems of LG televisions. That is, there were not few adventurers in this area.
Alright, but what are the possibilities then? There are people who bet on a platform called Fuchsia, which has also been developed by Google itself for a few years now. But it is not seen as a replacement for Android or an alternative in the short term, but rather a complement to other sectors.
Another possibility is that smaller manufacturers , who want to offer something different, organize themselves or opt for a new mass platform. But this situation does not exist in the short term. Finally, there are unpredictable economic and political issues that modify the scenario, such as Huawei with HarmonyOS, which was created almost in a hurry because the Chinese company was prevented by the US government from distributing Android with Gogole services.
Ah, and the situation here is a little different from the case of PCs: Linux and its numerous distributions achieve a relatively greater reach through institutional partnerships and a faithful community that already exists for decades; with smartphones, this has not yet been possible. But the situation with operating systems for computers is a subject for another video. So, do you think we need to have a third alternative in mobile operating systems on the market?
Who could get into this fight? Or are Android and iOS enough? Let's talk down here in the comments!
Don't forget to give the video a thumbs-up, subscribe to the channel for more content like this and check out the Comprehension playlist to find out what we've already talked about here. To the next!
