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Nokia acquires mobile OS-maker Symbian

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:40:00 EDT

Finland mobile device maker Nokia will acquire the 52 percent of mobile operating system-maker Symbian it didn't already own from private investors Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. and Siemens AG for $410 million. Nokia plans to turn the Symbian operating system into an open source software platform to rival Google's Android and Apple's iPhone OS X software. Symbian's 1,000 developers will join Nokia as employees and Symbian itself will continue as a non-profit foundation responsible for marketing the OS.

iPhone Greedily Eats North American Market Share

Haroon Malik — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:36:00 EST

Canalys has produced a report showing the iPhone has grown massively in North America. The study looked specifically at smartphone market share statistics in Q3, and the iPhone, in a surprisingly short time span, has managed to grab second position. A 27% market share is nothing to scoff at; what Apple has done in a few months, others have failed to do in years.

Smartphones running Symbian, Linux and Palm OS all fall behind Apple's iPhone. This is ever more stunning because the iPhone is only available via one carrier, in contrast, the other platforms can be procured from various cellular networks. This dramatically increases their market penetration. From the perspective of a business model, these figures are simply astronomical. Who's running scared? Apparently, Symbian is:

Every year, Symbian publishes detailed figures demonstrating how they are the biggest, baddest platform in the world. Guess what? This year, they didn't release the detailed figures on their Symbian Fast Facts webpage. Why not? Take a look at the image—the numbers are no longer working in their favor.

All in all, things aren't looking too perky for Apple's competitors. Sure, RIM may be flying high at the moment, but if this growth continues even at a fraction of the rate it is currently, RIM won't be high and dry for long. Android, in you we trust. For a fantastic run through the figures, and a more detailed look at the likely ramifications of Apple's impending dominance, checkout the full report by hitting the link. [Roughly Drafted Magazine]

iPhone has 0.09 percent of Web usage — yes, that's a lot

Jordan Golson — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:07:45 EST

The browser wars continue — but no one cares. Unless, that is, you're in the wireless world, where industry observers avidly watch tiny scraps of Web activity, as if they're divining prophecies from the clouds. Computerworld notes an interesting trend. Apple's iPhone browser has grabbed a 0.09 percent share, which might not seem like much until you compare it to the competition. Windows CE, which encompasses every Windows Mobile device shipped, holds a 0.06 percent share; Danger Research's Sidekick product family holds a tiny 0.02 percent share; and the Symbian S60 smartphone platform, favored by Nokia, has 0.01 percent.

Though this could be attributed to the ease of use of the iPhone's browser, it is still significant. A product on the market less than 6 months is used to browse the Web 50 percent more than Windows Mobile which has been around for years. Look for holiday iPhone sales numbers to be announced at Macworld San Francisco in January — and then we'll find out just how well the iPhone really sold. Until then, browser numbers serve as a good proxy for telling us how much it's used. (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)

The Googlephone's missing business model

Owen Thomas — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:19:47 EST

Now that we all understand that there will be no Googlephone, what are we to make of the laughable "industry initiative" Google has come up with in its place? The most notable thing about it is not who's in the Open Handset Alliance group, but who's out: Microsoft and Nokia. And why are they out? Because they already make cell-phone operating systems. Much has been made of the notion that Google will license its new cell-phone OS, Android, for free. And much has been made of the possibility that Google will introduce compelling new mobile apps. But will either promise amount to much?

No. Decidedly not. How do I know this? Just ask Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms:

We recognize that many among the multitude of mobile users around the world do not and may never have an Android-based phone. Our goals must be independent of device or even platform. For this reason, Android will complement, but not replace, our longstanding mobile strategy of developing useful and compelling mobile services and driving adoption of these products through partnerships with handset manufacturers and mobile operators around the world.

Translation: Google will keep building mobile versions of its apps — Gmail, YouTube, and the like — for real phones that people actually use today, not the mythical Googlephone, or the handsets Google's partners may release next year. And everyone, not just Googlephone users, will benefit from those apps. Just like I said months ago: You already have a Googlephone. It's in your pocket.

As for a Google OS? Unlike PC operating systems, cell-phone software is already dirt cheap. Handset makers pay $8 to $15 for Windows Mobile, and as little as $2.50 a phone for Symbian, the Nokia-controlled OS. As a percentage of a cell phone's cost, that's minuscule. So it's not likely that a Google phone OS will make phones noticeably cheaper; if anything, cell-phone makers will use that minor savings to fatten their profit margins.

In short, consumers won't get cheaper phones or better apps. And they won't get a Googlephone, either. Have I mentioned that?

I realize that faithful Valleywag readers are tired of hearing this. But this drum needs beating. Three times — three times! — on its conference call today, mainstream-media reporters asked, "So there's no Googlephone today?" No Googlephone today. No Googlephone ever. There's no money to be made, and believe you me, the Google of today is all about making money.

So why bother? Google wants to be a player in wireless. And without the credible threat of a phone, Google just doesn't have much clout. It's one thing for Google to go around badmouthing Windows Mobile — quite another to offer handset makers a compelling substitute. Google's Android doesn't have to be a moneymaker in its own right — it just has to stop Microsoft from having a profitable cell-phone OS.

None of this, of course, has anything to do with consumers. It's all about Google, and the games people play when they have more money than they know what to do with.