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> Simply making an operating system open source is insufficient on its own to guarantee success. If it were, Ubuntu Phone and Firefox OS would be significant pl

by roca 7y ago

> Simply making an operating system open source is insufficient on its own to guarantee success. If it were, Ubuntu Phone and Firefox OS would be significant players. Unfortunately, neither “crossed the chasm”, in part due to lack of manufacturer and carrier support. Actually FirefoxOS pretty much has "crossed the chasm". It's just that that happened after Mozilla abandoned it and KaiOS took it over. They've shipped 100M units. https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/22/kaios-raises-50m-more-hits-100m-handsets-powered-by-its-feature-phone-os/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/22/kaios-raises-50m-more-hits... Weird that a mobile-focused developer site would miss this. It's true that Huawei open-sourcing HarmonyOS is no guarantee of success, but that's a bit obvious.

rahimnathwani 7y ago
Earlier in the same article, they quote "Huawei will need to solve the biggest hole in the adoption of Harmony OS: the app ecosystem". I think that's part of what they're talking about when they say these others never crossed the chasm. And, yes, KaiOS has crossed the chasm, but I don't see: - that being open source helped with carrier deals and hence adoption, or - that they've solved the app ecosystem issue
- fabrice_d 7y ago
  Having official apps for WhatsApp, FB, GMaps, Youtube, Google Voice Assistant, Twitter helps a lot with the ecosystem part.
pjmlp 7y ago
Nokia is apparently working on Android for feature phones, regardless of their partnership with KaiOS. https://www.androidcentral.com/apparently-nokia-feature-phone-running-android https://www.androidcentral.com/apparently-nokia-feature-phon...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
PakG1 7y ago
HarmonyOS is launching in China first. In China, you only need to have a few apps on your phone to make it worth buying, because those few apps let you do EVERYTHING. WeChat, AliPay, etc. WeChat even has its own mini-app ecosystem because of this type of usage preference. Because of these consumer demographics of how they use their apps and what kind of apps they prefer, I don't think it's inconceivable that they can get a big initial customer base in China. In a country of a billion-plus people who also wouldn't mind supporting a home team company, that would be enough to keep HarmonyOS sustainably alive. Need a thriving app ecosystem? You think they can't convince a number of Chinese app developers to develop for HarmonyOS? Especially the big app developers if the government asks for it? Yes, there are questions whether HarmonyOS can become an internationally prevalent OS. But that's just a larger definition of success. I would not be surprised to see HarmonyOS become huge in China by itself, at least on par with iOS in terms of Chinese market share, if not better. And if that happens, I cannot see how I would consider HarmonyOS not a success.

by roca 7y ago

rahimnathwani 7y ago

Earlier in the same article, they quote "Huawei will need to solve the biggest hole in the adoption of Harmony OS: the app ecosystem". I think that's part of what they're talking about when they say these others never crossed the chasm. And, yes, KaiOS has crossed the chasm, but I don't see: - that being open source helped with carrier deals and hence adoption, or - that they've solved the app ecosystem issue

fabrice_d 7y ago
Having official apps for WhatsApp, FB, GMaps, Youtube, Google Voice Assistant, Twitter helps a lot with the ecosystem part.

pjmlp 7y ago

Nokia is apparently working on Android for feature phones, regardless of their partnership with KaiOS. https://www.androidcentral.com/apparently-nokia-feature-phone-running-android https://www.androidcentral.com/apparently-nokia-feature-phon...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

PakG1 7y ago

HarmonyOS is launching in China first. In China, you only need to have a few apps on your phone to make it worth buying, because those few apps let you do EVERYTHING. WeChat, AliPay, etc. WeChat even has its own mini-app ecosystem because of this type of usage preference. Because of these consumer demographics of how they use their apps and what kind of apps they prefer, I don't think it's inconceivable that they can get a big initial customer base in China. In a country of a billion-plus people who also wouldn't mind supporting a home team company, that would be enough to keep HarmonyOS sustainably alive. Need a thriving app ecosystem? You think they can't convince a number of Chinese app developers to develop for HarmonyOS? Especially the big app developers if the government asks for it? Yes, there are questions whether HarmonyOS can become an internationally prevalent OS. But that's just a larger definition of success. I would not be surprised to see HarmonyOS become huge in China by itself, at least on par with iOS in terms of Chinese market share, if not better. And if that happens, I cannot see how I would consider HarmonyOS not a success.