Nokia (Symbian), BlackBerry (RIM), Samsung (Bada), Microsoft (Windows Phone), Amazon (Fire OS) or even Palm (Palm OS)… Alternatives to Android and iOS have existed. It is clear that the two OS are now essential. This situation no longer suits India, which will take steps to bring out a third mobile OS.
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There are dozens of studies showing it, Android and iOS form a duopoly in the world. If we take data from StatCounter, the two OSes share 99.25% of this market. It is clear that the two OS are essential.
Ten years ago, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android were already dominating, but the market had other options, including Nokia (Symbian), BlackBerry (RIM), Samsung (Bada), Microsoft (Windows Phone), Amazon ( Fire OS) and Palm (Palm OS). Wave after wave of consolidation and the dominance of app stores resulted in the duopoly we have today.
Even if it makes sense to you that Apple and Google are the main players when it comes to choosing a phone. It can be easy to forget that they also make all the rules, from choosing apps from app stores to how difficult it may be to use alternative browsers on our phones.
A duopoly is a bad thing
In almost all cases, a duopoly is a very bad thing. This situation limits the choice of consumers, it offers the parties the opportunity to agree and shape the market in their favour, to limit innovation, to drive up prices… The era of buying a good Windows Phone phone for 150 euros is gone forever and will not return. Nevertheless, the states still have the possibility of acting.
This is what China is doing, for example, where alternative versions of Android have been swarming since Google was banned. The banishment of Huawei, for example, gave birth to HarmonyOS as an alternative to Android.
India to invest in home OS
In India, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, told The Economic Times his intention ” create a native operating system as an alternative to Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS “. The idea, as Rajeev Chandrasekhar explains, is to invest in startups and academic institutions to encourage them to create their own operating system. It’s a safe bet that this 3rd OS could be a forked of Android, that is to say a copy of Android based on its source code, it is an economical and logical choice. This ensures compatibility with thousands of existing applications.
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