Linux to capture 23% of smartphone market by 2013

The open-source Linux operating system is seeing major growth in the mobile and embedded space, especially in the smartphone market. Handset makers and mobile carriers are adopting open-source software because it significantly reduces licensing and development costs and also provides higher flexibility. That is why analyst firm ABI Research is predicting that Linux-based mobile devices will account for nearly a quarter of the smartphone market within the next five years.

In a recent report about smartphones, ABI looks closely at emerging Linux-based mobile platforms and the impact that they will have on the industry. ABI sees the LiMo Foundation and the Open Handset Alliance as the two most prominent framework providers and contends that their platforms will account for most of the upcoming Linux mobile adoption.

"By 2013, we expect that Linux will take 23% of the smartphone market and will be the second most prevalent solution behind Symbian. And although LiMo and Android will take the lion's share of the market for Linux solutions, there will be opportunities for solutions such as Maemo which will be facilitated by the encroachment of the MID (Mobile Internet Device) form factor into the mobile devices landscape," said ABI Research vice president Stuart Carlaw in a statement.