Wednesday 1 August 2012

Tizen Platform: 5 steps to success

Tizen is an open software platform for smart phones and other connected devices. The platform is a successor to the LiMo and Meego platforms, sharing some code elements from both and is being primarily developed by Samsung and Intel. It is hosted by the Linux Foundation, to bring some Open Source credibility, and the marketing is supported by the Tizen Association. It is early days for the Tizen platform with no devices released so far, but a "1.0" SDK and source code do show some promise. However given the limited amount of success that LiMo and Meego enjoyed, what does Tizen need to do to ensure better success? Here are 5 steps that I propose:


1. Find a niche, exploit it and expand

Quite honestly its tough out there for a fledgling OS. Its already a crowded market with some big players (i.e. iOS and Android). Not only did LiMo and Meego fail to make a mark, we see that Nokia's Symbian, Palm/HPs WebOS and others have either already died or are winding down. Tizen needs to find a niche, or two, or three, that it can successfully exploit and expand from. The advantages that Tizen should be able capitalise on are its potential to avoid major IPR issues, its openness (reducing product/platform development costs), and the support of Operators (who don't want to be sidelined from profitable areas of business by Apple and Google).


2. Utilise Samsung Bada experience

Samsung have their fingers in many mobile OS pies, including some they have developed themselves such as Bada. This platform is more of a low-end smartphone platform but its rather successful. For example, according to Tomi Ahonen (one of my favourite analysts/bloggers) for Q1 2012 Bada was ranked 5th by unit sales ("3.8 million sales, 2.6%" market share). That's pretty good for something that isn't their main focus, and to put it in a bit of context, it's well ahead of any Microsoft phone OS. Clearly Samsung are able to create and. more importantly, market a successful platform and ecosystem. If they are able to fully utilise this Bada experience for Tizen, it should be a success; and that's without considering what Intel and others can contribute.


3. Become the platform of choice for connected cars 

Well OK, this is a bit similar to point 1; it's a niche. However it is a very important niche for the future that I have blogged about in the past. Not only that, but Tizen already supports an In Vehicle Infotainment version of the platform with some industry following due to the Meego history. If Tizen can become the platform of choice for connected cars then a successful ecosystem can be built.


4. Utilise the Open Source Community

Tizen, like Meego before it, is largely based on existing well-known Open Source components. Utilising good, proven components leveraging the Open Source Community will aid Tizen by reducing costs (e.g. support, development). A fully open platform can also provide a playground for innovation; innovation that Tizen and device manufacturers can make good use of - potentially providing something unique from iOS or Android. At the time of writing though, the development and governance of Tizen isn't really open and is going on behind closed doors. That's OK for the time being as Samsung and Intel get the project fully off the ground and take the time to create something sufficiently complete and stable to be a compelling (useful) platform. It will have to be fully open soon though to keep the Community on board and behind it - goodwill doesn't last forever.


5. Learn from past mistakes

Tizen already has a history, and it's a bit mixed to say the least. As in life, it is very important to learn from past mistakes and try not to repeat them. I have already blogged about some lessons that could be learnt from LiMo,
 

5 steps to success for the Tizen platform....it all seems so easy doesn't it? It really wont be, but I believe Tizen has the potential to deliver on its promise.

Martin Yagi.
Martin is available for freelance consulting on mobile standards/collaboration, emerging applications/technology and innovation. To discuss your requirements check contact details in Martin's profile.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Martin, very good points.

    Especially point 3 - since Meego vanished in mid-air, the Genivi alliance finds itself with a problem (it was their reference platform - see http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/announcements/2010/07/meego-software-platform-chosen-genivi-alliance ) which could be addressed by Tizen. The challenge is that the dev cycles and general criteria in the automotive industry have nothing to do with telecoms and could be a problem for open source developed platform (ie long product lifecycles, very costly certification processes etc).

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  2. Hi Fabrice,

    I understand and agree with your points about the automotive industry. I'm sure that Samsung, for one, is motivated to use the platform beyond just smartphones and the telecoms sector (e.g. as the platform for their SmartTVs); so they should be thinking about how to handle this and keep everyone behind the project. It would be interesting to get some comment from Genivi people. Hopefully the Tizen Community, including the automotive folks, will find a way to solve this challenge as it is a common interest.

    Martin.

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