VIVAnews - By 2012, the amount of smartphones will exceed 390 million units, IDC research company reports.
The rapid growth of smartphone will by all means affect the market of operation system (OS). Following the steps of Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile, a new system called Android is trying its luck in the Indonesian market. The open-source system is predicted to be able to throw BlackBerry off its top position.
For the record, Android is the first open-source-based mobile phone platform (non-proprietary) to be developed by Google. Other big names like Motorola, HTC, Intel, Qualcomm, which are the members of Open Handset Alliance, have also stepped in to support the platform.
There are two key changes within the next three years. First, Android will book the fastest growth among other OS. Starting with 690 thousand units in 2008, Android will be rocketing to 68 million units in 2013 with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 150.4 percent.
Secondly, Android will be significantly supported by the development of its adoptive cell phones and predicted to globally rank second below Symbian.
In Indonesia, Android is yet the talk of the town. Some of them even doubt the capabilities of Android. There has not been any local research that is able to prove that Android could beat out BlackBerry.
However, Indosat Head of VAS Marketing Teguh Prasetya said Android’s chance in the market depends on the mutual links within its ecosystem, including the users, the vendor (OEM), the operator, the regulator and the developer.
“All of these elements are supporting Android and I believe it will have a bigger opportunity in the future. I’m still optimistic that Android will later be popular,” Prasetya told VIVAnews on March 17.
He also said Indosat, as the operator, needed to aggressively becoming a catalyst in the development of Android by speeding up changes in the market.
But, Prasetya does not want to be overly confident. According to him, Android’s boom will take time. “Nothing happens instantly. So did iPhone and BlackBerry. I think Android will be developing in phases, “ he said.
In preparing for the anticipated breakthrough, Prasetya assumes Indosat needs to prepare the infrastructure and special added value for Android users. “For example, creating an Indosat Market Store that is included in Google’s Android App Store,” he said.
“Here, the developers are also free to develop contents and applications that can be downloaded by the users of Android-based mobile phones”.
--
Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
