Samsung Shouts “Me Too!” With New Bada Mobile OS

Someone please tell me what Samsung seeks to accomplish by doing this. They have just unveiled their very own mobile OS.  This would’ve been a good thing if they did this before Android came out. That is because this is a new open mobile OS that makes it easy for developers to develop fun applications for… ahem “millions of new Samsung phones” that will be coming out. I don’t know about you but I sure don’t expect to see millions of new Samsung phone being bought and used in the near future.

Samsung should wake up and tap the touchscreen, they are clearly cut off from the world. Otherwise, why would they try to compete in a market that has more than two giants already?

You have Symbian cutting out the majority of the pie thanks mainly to Nokia and then Sony Ericsson and others. After that you have RIM with their Blackberry OS. After that you have the awesome iPhone OS, followed by the as much worse Windows Mobile. After that comes Android and then at the bottom somewhere you have Palm’s WebOS mixed with the rest of the ‘others’ sludge.

Android has been predicted to shoot up to #2 position in a few years. There are no signs of the iPhone getting any less popular and Symbian is just too bloody big to wane that easily. As for Blackberry, well… they have the Storm 2 with the new version of their OS. If you want to drive yourself or someone else completely insane with frustration, you can buy it.

With these players in the field already, Samsung’s offering is likely to evaporate into oblivion. They are nowhere as big as Nokia, who at least can push their Maemo OS into the non-US markets where it rules the roost. But I don’t think even they are as hopeful as Samsung seems to be.

You know Samsung, if you have a mobile OS, you better be ready to bring out some great new phones for it pretty soon. And these better be phones that people want. Then, you will have to make sure that a lot of people are using them so that the developers have at least a little justification for spending their time understanding your platform and developing for it. I will of course leave the question of profitability out for now. It is far too early.

Samsung has chosen the name Bada because it is Ocean in Korean. It apparently symbolizes the limitless possibilities of the OS. Samsung is going all out with the promises too. They are saying that it will be a fun experience for the users and that the developers will find it an easy platform to develop for. They are also saying that it will be carrier-friendly and will be easier to integrate into various networks.

So let me see here. Apple has the third largest market share right now and they are growing fast. And Android looks set to take over thanks to the sheer number of handsets and other devices that it will be running on. We are currently waiting for Windows Mobile to come out of its ‘last decade mode’.

The iPhone OS has more than 100,000 applications. The Android has only about 10,000 but way more handsets. So if I were a mediocre developer without much capital to spare, I would go for Android. If I were an experienced and talented developer with a hefty backing and a really unique idea, I would want to strike rich at the app store. I might get rejected but I can always re-submit with changes.

Bada OS? I would like my app to see the light of day more often. So I think I will pass up on this one.

Read Related Posts

1. Samsung Joins SmartPhone Platform War, Unveils Bada
2. Apple iPhone Has A Greater Share Of The Smartphone Market Than Windows Mobile
3. The Current State Of Mobile OS’: It’s a Mess Out There
4. Nokia To Shift To Maemo Full Time?
5. Google’s Open Source Mobile OS

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