Study: Linux will be on a third of smart phones in 2012

TechWorld.com - By 2012, Linux will be running on nearly 31% of all smart devices, thanks to a faster growth rate than Windows Mobile and Symbian, according to predictions from a research firm.

Linux smart phones will grow at more than 75% per year, according to ABI Research, and will be running on 331 million devices by 2012.

"Serious initiatives from the likes of Intel and Access are gathering pace and momentum, whilst the carrier community continues to identify Linux as one of the few operating systems that it intends to support in its long-term plans," said ABI research director Stuart Carlaw.

Symbian won't be too pleased with the figures, as it claims to currently have 72% of the smart phone market. However, Symbian's figures are very regional: It has around 90% of Europe and "rest of the world" sectors, but it hasn't cracked the U.S. (it has less than 10% there) and is only around 65% of the market in China and Japan, according to the Canalys figures that Symbian quotes.

In China and Japan, Linux smart phones already have more than 30% market share, having grown massively since 2004, as earlier Canalys graphs show.

Access, which owns the Palm operating system, has created the Access Linux Platform. It is also planning a move to Linux for the Palm OS. Intel Corp., meanwhile is supporting Linux in its ultra-mobile platform.

"Linux is benefiting from growing support in the handset OEM community, most notably Motorola, but also Nokia with less traditional types of devices aimed at mobile broadband applications," said Carlaw.

Motorola has revealed plans to have Linux on 60% of its handsets within the next two years, and it founded the LiMo group.

Nokia, meanwhile, is heavily committed to Symbian but has put Linux on its N800 Internet tablet.

The other wild card is Google. The company's entry into the phone hardware market is still rumor, but most of the latest rumors suggest a Linux-based phone.