Approximately once a year, the Symbian world is surprised by some bright analyst discovering that Linux is a potential threat to Symbian sales. Having been in the mobile space for ages, such a message causes little more than a bored a ha on my end. Apples taste like apples…as if I didn’t know. Why do I have such a negative stance on Symbian in general and S60 devices in specific? Read on to find out why!
S60 and FOMA devices sell like hotcakes - but a device sale is not always a “vote” for an operating system. Folks - please don’t flood me with aggressive emails - I know that YOU chose to purchase a device running your favorite flavor of Symbian(or whatever other OS/IOS). YOU did - but others did not.
In fact, my first introduction into the S60 scene was a Siemens SX1 given to me by my carrier for 1€ because of its excellent camera. I knew that it was extensible - but never installed anything onto it as I was way to happy with my Tungsten T3.
Many(if not most) customers don’t purchase an S60 device. They rather purchase a device that looks cool/has a good camera/GPS/whatever. The operating system that it is based on is completely irrelevant for them; for they will never proceed beyond purchasing ring tones and java midlets advertised in newspapers.
The operating system license is among the most expensive parts of a mobile device - insider sources tell me that both Palm OS and Windows Mobile cost approx 50 to 100$ on average. 50 to 100$…is a LOT of money, especially when you consider that most mobile devices sell for approx. 350€ nowadays.
WHY should a manufacturer burn this money, if he can just use a run-of-the-mill Linux “IOS”? Linux IOS’s have taken the world of set-top boxen by storm, so why should they stop at phones?
Of course, not all is lost for Symbian. Customers who use specific applications on their phone will definitely stick to the OS - and it’s just that awareness that Symbian must work on in order to fight mobile Linux. Lowering license prices is a very short-term solution; in the end, Linux will ALWAYS be cheaper.
Awareness is the key issue - I hope that folks at Symbian’s are wise enough to realize this before it’s too late…
