Symbian Seeks To Win Developer Mindshare
Following the news today that Symbian has gone open source, eWEEK Europe questions its strategy group leader John Forsyth about the way forward for the mobile operating system
How are you going to encourage developers and handset makers to go with Symbian?
“There is lots of specific things we are doing, with programmes over the last 24 months like Horizon (a path to market for developers). It shows how powerful a really easy route to market can be – I am talking about iPhone apps here. But we are humble in this space and happy to learn. Horizon is a development that will help in this regard, as it is a great innovation and one we hope that developers will see more and more value in it.”
“The industry comes down to one thing, namely great devices. Developers are motivated by creating apps for great devices. We have the scale and are entering a phase where you will see some products. Symbian faces a classic challenge, as we are the platform everyone already knows.”
A lot of handset makers are bringing out their own mobile operating systems or are rationalising the number of mobile OS they work with. Is that a worry?
“You hit upon a fundamental trend shaping the industry, as everyone is recognising they need a mobile platform that is also a mobile Internet platform. But mobile platforms take a lot of development, and very few will win out, as there is a limited number that the industry can afford.”
“It is all about quality, feature richness, and pace of innovation. These are the things that will matter, and Symbian stands head and shoulders above anyone else in this regard. What we are doing right now will lead to a surge in innovation. Put yourself in the shoes of a handset manufacturer, as they cannot do it all themselves anymore, and they rely on others, but this does bring issues. Do I know who makes decisions? Can I influence the decisions and future roadmap. We are super transparent in that area. The days when one company decided the direction, like with Windows Mobile, well that approach is dead right now.”
What proportion of Symbian handsets are non-Nokia?
“That is a completely reasonable question, and by volumes (i.e. actual shipments), that is anyone’s guess as we are a non-commercial organisation and no one is under obligation to report sales to us.”
“However, in terms of the number of devices in the market, I can say that last year the majority of Symbian devices launched were not launched by Nokia. Others came from Sony Ericsson and Samsung, as well as an avalanche of products in Japan from the likes of Sharp and Fujitsu (collectively between them some 20 to 30 products).”
