Open OS ecosystem fuelling smartphone boom in India: Report

An open operating system (OS) ecosystem has helped India overtake the US to become the second-largest smartphone market by number of units after China, according to a report released by research firm KPMG and India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA). 

Open-source operating systems such as Android run on a number of hardware platforms. The report, titled ‘Impact Assessment of Open OS Ecosystem for Devices in India’, said that such an ecosystem had reduced  entry barriers and led to an increase in the number of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) from seven in 2009 to around 80 in 2018. 

"An estimated 72% of mobile application developers in India are using open OS as the base of their development, and they are also getting access to a user base of 152 countries via 300 app stores,” said the report released on Tuesday. 

It stated that the Indian smartphone market had recorded a compounded annual of growth rate (CAGR) of 37% in value and was estimated to be worth Rs 1.43 lakh crore in 2017. 

Google-made Android continues to be the dominant operating system across devices in India with close to a 72% share as of 2017, said the report. 

“The easy accessibility and affordability of smartphones has shrunk the digital divide between urban and rural India. The open OS ecosystem has further helped in the establishment of many small, medium and large enterprises,” said RS Sharma, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, at the launch of the report. “I would, however, wish that India has its own OS developed for our needs.”