ABI Research’s analysts are obviously bullish about Linux on mobile phones, as we have the research company forecasting that Linux-enabled smartphones, led by the success of the Android platform, will comprise 33% of the worldwide smartphone market by 2015. The reason behind their thinking is obvious – at the moment, there are more than 60,000 Android-powered smartphones shipping every day!
Much of the interest that handset OEMs and mobile operators have in Android can be traced to its flexibility. In that sense we see different OEMs shipping practically the same products (specs wise) with different UIs — i.e. Samsung has TouchWIZ, HTC – Sense, Motorola – MOTOBLUR, while other companies are also preparing their own solutions.
However, ABI points out that Android is not without competition. They see Samsung’s Bada (which can but doesn’t have to run on the Linux kernel) and Intel-Nokia’s MeeGo platforms as potential market disruptors. There’s also the LiMo Foundation, though I’m not sure about their prospects.
Anyway, ABI Research has a whole report (Mobile Linux in Smartphones) on the subject, and you can get more details about it [report] from here.