Comments on: Mobile OS wars: Symbian leads globally; Mac OS X surges

A new report from Gartner shows Symbian still holds nearly half the market in mobile operating systems, but other OSes are quickly rising in market share and developer attention.

[cmdrlolcat]

It's not "Mac OS X", the correct name for iPhone and iPod touch's operating system is "iPhone OS".

[ausernamenoonehaschosen]

As stated elsewhere, the iPhone OS is supposedly a simplified version of Mac OS X, pick and choose.

[monty0000]

I will admit, it does not make much sense. If it is not running on a Macintosh, it should not be called "Mac OS X", and should simply be "OS X", or "Apple OS X". Unless the iPhone is really the Mac iPhone? In any case, I suppose it does not matter much.

[alenas]

It all depends on SDK and licensing. Developers choose the platform that is easier to develop on. Not necessary the OS that seems to be on steroids (for now). I do not think there is better tools, SDK and flexibility than those that are available for Windows Mobile...

[Pishkado]

"Developers choose the platform that is easier to develop on" is an oversimplification. (Been there, though not in phones.) It's a trade-off involving development effort, size of potential market, competition in that market (inversely correlated with size) and perceived ability to meet or beat where that competition will be when the new product comes out. Some of these are hard to quantify, so there's a lot of managerial/entrepreneurial judgment (not always good) thrown in too. Lots of packages fall flat,. Others surprise everyone (including, often, their developers) by seeming to come out of nowhere.

[anhtney]

I doubt the iPhone will go very far. Symbian will still lead because of Nokia. Nokia phones are still used more widely than any other phone (except in the U.S.).

[Chapmaniac]

I'd be surprised if the iPhone can maintain its momentum considering the coming wave of new hardware and their associated OSs (from Google, MS, Nokia, etc.).

[Maarek Stele]

Apple would need to beat Nokia as the #1 cell phone seller.

but there's a downfall for Apple, their overseas sales suck due to high data prices. So Symbian will still win. I think Android will beat Apple out with their free software and opensource OS keeping the devices lower in price than the iPhone.

[AppleSuxLeo]

NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of handset maker Palm Inc. charged up 7.5 percent in premarket trading Friday after an analyst upgraded the company, saying its new operating system has boosted the company's potential to catch up with smartphone industry leaders Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd.

"Rather than a 'one product Hail Mary,' we see webOS as a platform spawning a family of devices addressing a broader market opportunity," wrote RBC Capital Markets equity analyst Mike Abramsky. He upgraded the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Treo maker to "Outperform" from "Sector Perform" and raised his target price on the stock to $12 from $5.

[mike234x]

Symbian and Apple are both old-school devices: application-oriented UIs, desktop integration, and all that. Apple makes it look and work prettier, but that is only painting lipstick on a dog.

The future belongs to devices like Android and Palm Pre: fully integrated with the Internet, and without silliness like "applications" or "tasks".