If you watched Stephen Elop (Nokia) and Apotheker (HP) at the D9 conference, you can clearly see that these are the two companies who are fighting for the no 3 spot in mobile platforms. iOS / Android are fighting for the number 1 & 2 leaving everyone else to fight for the prized 3rd spot. The only two mobile operating systems that are currently in the market are WebOS and Windows Phone 7. At this point, you would surely want to ask how is it Nokia and HP fighting for the 3rd spot and not Microsoft’s WP and webOS?
Well interestingly as the market is poised today, Nokia’s bet for future, Windows Phone 7 is more like one of the two market leaders, Android. Available to multiple manufacturers who work on the hardware, while Microsoft works on the software. On the flip side, HP’s webOS is more like iOS in its current form, where HP does both software and hardware.
Stephen Elop made a comment at D9 expressing that he wants other manufacturers like Samsung to be successful with their Windows Phone lineup. In a very open discussion he accepted that its all about getting the scale and attracting more developers.
HP’s Apotheker sitting on the same seat along with Walt Mossberg at D9 hinted that they are open to license webOS for other manufacturers to use. Now why would they want to do that when they have the hardware and software strength, along with a lot of money to invest? Isn’t Apple doing it all with its iOS? Well as it turns out, even HP realises that its about reaching that scale as fast as possible. Getting not just developers but the few 100 million consumers using webOS.
I would repeat what I have said multiple times before, the platform race as we know is nearing an end. In a year or so, all major mobile platforms would have a capable OS version & good apps. But the one who would dictate the future would need those few 100 million consumers behind them. Be it a mobile wallet powered by NFC or something like what Microsoft is trying with Windows 8, it would be a game that would need scale to sustain.
Nokia hopes that it would take the lead with Windows Phone 7 while other manufacturers help reach the scale, while HP realises its about time they get some real traction for webOS. The race for the 3rd spot in this mobile race isn’t about being 3rd, it’s about getting a ticket to the future!
Note: Incase you are asking about QNX (Blackberry) and MeeGO (Intel). I consider them outside the game right now with no commercially available smartphone on sale currently.
Nice article,totally agree with you!