Linux headed for worldwide smartphone domination

Linux may become the preferred operating system in a full-featured mobile device and handset market in which “there is no economic reason to question
why growth will not be explosive,” according to Seamus McAteer, senior analyst and managing partner, Zelos Group. “The mass adoption of full-featured
handsets will be disruptive,” adds McAteer.

McAteer is author of a Zelos Group report, Defining the Market for Full-Feature Handsets, which forecasts annual sales of 290 million, or 43 percent
of the global handset market, by 2008 for full-featured handsets — mobile phones that incorporate full-featured operating systems.

McAteer believes full-featured handsets will have a disruptive impact on the entire mobile electronics sector, because consumers will buy them instead
of PDAs, digital cameras, gaming consoles, and music players. “An early indication of this is [mobile phone giant] Nokia becoming a leading
distributor of digital cameras,” says McAteer.