Samsung and Android, Apple and iOS – these two pairings dominate the global smart phone market today with nearly 50 percent of the market share and 90 percent of the profits. Other smartphone manufacturers meanwhile are having a hard time even finding firm footing.
It is little surprise that smartphone manufacturers are searching for inventive new ways to increase market share and gain profits. One such method is the launch of dual-OS smartphones. Currently the ability to switch between two operating systems on one phone does not provide a clear advantage. However, from the point of view of terminal manufacturers, dual-OS has the ability to lower the risk of user churn by meeting a broader base of demands. As smartphones become more homogeneous, dual-OS may present a good opportunity for some firms to increase market share.
There are many problems with dual-OS that challenge terminal manufacturers’ software and hardware capabilities. Premium user experiences with complete compatibility and seamless handover cannot be guaranteed if critical problems are not tackled effectively. If it fails to provide real additional value to customers, a dual-OS strategy could even accelerate the downfall of some terminal manufacturers.
Niche market sees a boom
Though dual-OS smartphones have still not hit the primetime, dual-OS enabled smart terminals such as computers and TVs have already been widely adopted. Smartphone upstart Xiaomi provides one counterexample, as it has previously launched dual-OS Android and MIUI smartphones. Considering that MIUI is just an Android fork, however, this might not be seen as a true dual-OS smartphone.
Spanish manufacturer Geeksphone released a true dual-OS smartphone with the Revolution, which runs both Android and Firefox OS. It features a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core processor, a 4.7-inch HD IPS display, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and micro-SD expansion.
The Revolution allows its users to seamlessly switch between the two operating systems, thus providing an enriched experience without hurting the original user experience. This is good news for smartphone fans, and such a product may help manufacturers to reinforce user stickiness.
Spanish manufacturer Geeksphone released a true dual-OS smartphone with the Revolution, which runs both Android and Firefox OS.
In addition, the launch of the Revolution helped promote the deployment of other dual-OS smartphones. Indian manufacturer KarbonnMobiles plans to launch an Android + Windows Phone dual-OS smartphone this summer. In the Chinese market, Coship has already launched its independently developed 960 OS + Android dual-OS smartphone. Huawei has mentioned a pending rollout of a dual-OS smartphone, but has more recently denied that it will do so. From these cases we can see an active attempt by firms to enter this field and compete for slices of this new, unique market.
Hardships
Although dual-OS smartphones can give firms an advantage to help them increase market share, there are also problems with dual-OS. Firms will need to overcome the associated challenges in software and hardware before they will be able to bolster their competitiveness.
Some industry experts have pointed out that dual-OS smartphones may have increased power consumption and performance idleness. Compatibility problems and difficulties in switching between the two operating systems may also impact user operation and system maintenance. If the two systems cannot be used in an optimal manner and at the same time, the original features of the smartphone may suffer, leading to poor results.
Moreover, smartphone development in the era of the mobile Internet is highly time-sensitive. Firms that are able to launch as many high-quality dual-OS smartphones as possible in the shortest time will lead the market and win users. OEMs should figure out the solution for continuous system optimization, complete compatibility, and seamless handover between the two systems to ensure a premium user experience and the smooth launch of these products.
