Race for mobile systems heats up
Valor Econômico
The war of the operating systems for smartphones is not new, but judging for the exponential growth those devices are having in Brazil - the projection is that 10 million units will be sold this year, twice as much as in 2010 - the main battles are yet to come. Google dominates the global market of smartphones with the Android operating system, which represented 36% of the market in the first quarter. In Brazil, Nokia keeps ahead with the Symbian, but the scenario is about to change. According to data of the Gartner consulting firm, the sales of devices running the Android in the country increased nearly 90 times between the first quarter of 2010 and the same period this year. Symbian had 33.8% of the sales, compared to 30.9% of the Android.
In practice, the Symbian is sentenced to death. In February, Nokia signed an agreement with Microsoft to start using the operating system of the American company - with Windows Phone. With that, it will gradually decrease the investments on its own software. The agreement leveraged Microsoft, which for long has sought space in the market of mobile systems. Nokia is the largest seller of mobile cell phones in the world and its first devices with Windows Phone will get to the market between the end of this year and the beginning of 2012. That is a chance Microsoft does not intent to waste, especially in the Brazilian market. "Brazil represents the future of Windows Phone", said yesterday, in São Paulo, the Chief Operating Office of Microsoft, Kevin Turner.
So far, there is no player in Brazil with Windows Phone, which was launched in October last year. Microsoft intends to recover the lost time. Until the end of 2011, the country plans to launch phones with the new version of the system in the country, which has been called "Mango" and it is still under development, said Turner. According to man in the hierarchy of the company, behind Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Turner came to São Paulo for one of three global events to launch the "Mango", which shows the attention aroused by the country. The two other places chosen were New York and London.
Microsoft isn't the only opponent of Google. Altogether, nine operating systems fight for the market. Among them are forces like Hewlett-Packard (HP), owner of webOS; Apple, with the iOS; and Samsung, with Bada. Yesterday, Microsoft announced the installation, in Brazil, of its first center in the world dedicated to assist developers in the creation of applications for Windows Phone. The facilities are located in Campinas (SP), and they are already in operation, under a partnership with the Eldorado Institute. On a recent visit to the country, the CEO of HP, Léo Apotheker, said the adaptation of webOS and its functionalities for the Portuguese language is a priority task in the center of research and development of the company in Porto Alegre. According to the Executive, the device with webOS will get to the country until the end of the year.