With Android under fire from Apple for copying their patented features and with Android manufacturers fighting legal battles with Apple all over the world, manufacturers are no doubt looking to branch out to other operating systems so that they aren’t dependent on Android, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 is currently that other OS that most manufacturers like Samsung and HTC are focusing on along with Android.
ZTE, China’s second-biggest maker of phones which uses Android on 90% of its smartphones currently, however is taking things a bit further and is working on a new mobile OS with Mozilla to compete with Google‘s Android, to reduce reliance on Android as they increase their presence in markets outside China. ZTE Executive Vice President He Shiyou told the press, “We will not rely on only one operating system,” which has not been met with positive reception from many analysts.
With Android currently the OS of choice and Windows Phone 8 also coming up, ZTE will have a hard time competing with the big names with their own OS, say analysts. Getting developers on-board for making apps and games for the new OS will be a tough calling. Not to mention that upcoming OS like Mozilla’s very own Firefox OS or Samsung’s Tizen or Jolla Ltd.’s MeeGo will also give them tough competition.
Let us see what happens. ZTE is certainly making a name these days with low-cost yet well featured Android phones, and their own OS could simply be a means of having multiple options instead of a direct competitor to Android.
