Asia is undoubtedly a huge market- for basically anything- mobile phones being no exception. It’s also a huge and diverse continent ranging from poverty-stricken Bangladesh or North Korea to sprawling China and India to ultra-technological Japan; something else entirely. There wouldn’t seem a single means by which to reach this market, but Android may show itself to be just that.
Open source software provides a means of producing relatively inexpensive and technologically advanced, feature-rich mobile devices, both factors being key in approaching the Asian market.
It only makes sense, then, that late last month Dell announced a partnership with China Mobile in developing two new smart phone models to operate on China Mobile’s Open Mobile System(OMS), an operating system which uses Android source code.
It has also been reported that a Samsung executive in Korea claims there has been an internal push to get an Android phone out in the second quarter of 2009 in order to “meet the needs of local carriers.” This could well mean an Android phone for Koreans this year, and possibly near neighbors.
Right now, Dell and Samsung seem poised to bring Android to the Asian mobile market very soon. Surely other competitors will follow suit.
If Android phones catch on significantly in Asia they wouldn’t even need launching elsewhere when considering the sheer number of potential users. With its vast potential as a proving ground, introduction in Asia and subsequent success should nudge otherwise skittish or conservative carriers and manufacturers in the direction of Android-powered mobile devices and that could lead to some pretty cool things.
Sources and Further Reading:
http://www.gsmdome.com/android/android-g1-gets-an-asian-side-next-year_1198
http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/13/forget-the-g1-the-android-invasion-is-landing-in-asia/
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=91699142&source=Newsfeed
