Linux will dominate mobile devices by 2015. That’s according to a new report from technology analyst ABI Research.<\/p>\n
The report, title “Linux For Mobile Devices”, predicts that growth of Linux-based operating systems for mobile devices will outstrip that of other platforms in the 5 years.<\/p>\n
According to ABI the likes of Google’s Chrome OS and Google’s Android OS are likely to push mobile Linux devices as high as 62% of the entire mobile market by 2015.<\/p>\n
The report says that other Linux-based operating systems will also be a key part of the new upsurge in Linux mobile devices. Among them will be Intel and Nokia’s joint venture, Meego, and Palm’s WebOS.<\/p>\n
Victoria Fodale, a senior analyst with ABI, says that “the number of Linux-oriented initiatives recently seen in the mobile industry indicates that Linux will be a key technology in the next generation of netbooks, media tablets, and other mobile devices.”<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Fodale says that despite the impression that Linux is fragmented the open source operating system does have a “unified based of upstream components, notably the Linux kernel”.<\/p>\n
The findings of ABI Research are not entirely surprising. Operating systems such as Android have started to climb in the popularity stakes. According to ComScore’s most recent analysis<\/a> Android was the only phone to increase its share of the smartphone market between February and May this year. And that it did with a healthy 4% share increase.<\/p>\n The big loser, at the moment is Microsoft as the company struggles to get Windows Phone 7 into a marketable form. According to ComScore the company’s share of the smartphone market dipped almost 2% during the same period.<\/p>\n Android is not the only representative of Linux on mobile. MeeGo now has a version 1.0 release in the market and HP’s recent acquisition of Palm could well see Linux-based WebOS appearing on mobile phones shortly.<\/p>\n Another potentially big player in the coming years for mobile Linux is Linaro<\/a>. With backing from some of the largest IT players, Linaro is aimed at creating a unified Linux base for ARM processors. Developers will then be able to use the base components to further develop for specific ARM-based devices, which are poised to boom in the coming couple of years.<\/p>\n