@BenParr (Co-Editor of Mashable) asks – “POLL: Will iPhone, Android, or another platform be the dominant mobile OS five years from now?”
Smartphone OS wars
The question should probably be rephrased for the smartphone market. Android’s approach, in many ways is similar to that of Linux, infact its even been built on Linux. They even tried to sneak some code into the main linux kernel tree and got flamed for it. It may even be appropriate to include Linux (given Android + Maemo + others) in the list as a candidate.
While Android’s open approach undoubtedly helps, it also greatly benefits from Apple’s stringent approval process and anti-competitive protection for its own apps.
Despite the dust raised by the Android Developer Challenges, it has failed to capture consumer imagination the way iPhone has. In many ways android’s increasing market share reminds me of ITRON‘s claims to be the world’s most popular OS because it powered many mobile phones, digital cameras, CD players and countless other electronic devices.
Sun Tzu would have said Android spreads like the water. Being an open platform, it definitely finds it easier to morph into a wide range of products/devices. This also leads to a fragmented market. For the same reasons, it was always painful to develop mainstream apps for Linux targeting a larger audience. Plus the additional complexity due to diverse devices. Hopefully, the Google backing helps with some of this.
At Althea Systems, these platform wars keep us on our toes, while we choose target markets for our products (right now Shufflr) built on our social video discovery platform, ShuffleFeed. We closely follow developments in multiple device & market segments without taking sides.
The Smartrepreneur Blog 