In an effort to accelerate the adoption of the Symbian OS platform, Symbian cut its licensing fees. Under new pricing alternatives, Symbian OS royalties as low as $2.50 per unit are possible, down from the $7.25 per unit sold for the first 2 million and $5 per unit thereafter. The moves come as Linux- and Windows-based handsets are encroaching on Symbian's market share. New research from The Diffusion Group says the battle between mobile OS vendors is set to intensify with Symbian, today's market leader, gradually losing share to both Microsoft's Mobile Windows and Linux. Symbian had a market share of 51 percent last year. The firm expects Symbian's share to erode to 22 percent, behind both Windows and Linux, who will garner 29 percent and 26 percent respectively.
For more about Symbian's licensing fee plans and The Diffusion Group's report:
- check out this press release [1] from Symbian
- read this press release [2] from The Diffusion Group
Links:
[1] http://www.symbian.com/news/pr/2006/pr20063401.html
[2] http://www.tdgresearch.com/press066.htm