We are quite impressed with Firefox OS. The demos we saw showed the OS to be solid but relatively unexciting. Some devices running Firefox had a few glitches and some of the transitions weren’t super smooth.
However these are devices that are expected to retail for around $100. When compared to similarly priced devices from Nokia’s Asha line-up or the myriad white box Android device.
And how much lower than $100 can the price get? Well that largely depends on the hardware platform on which the devices are built. Initial products are built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform, which will likely limit significant downward price movement. But other hardware platforms are possible and will likely emerge over time.
Critical to Firefox standing a fighting chance of getting off the ground are:
- Handset manufacturer support
- Operator support
Firefox can boast both of these.
In the past Operator support has been no guarantee of success however – the history of the industry is littered with operators’ failed attempts to lead the market in devices – Limo and the Wireless Application Community (WAC) are two recent examples. However we see Firefox as something slightly different.
