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Cape Town - Web browser maker Mozilla is targeting South Africa with its Firefox operating system (OS) but experts are divided on whether enough consumers could be tempted to adopt the smartphone software.
Mozilla announced on Wednesday that it plans partnering with mobile network MTN to bring Firefox OS to South Africa. Firefox says it has also teamed up with other African telecom players such as Airtel and Tigo: two companies that operate in countries across the continent.
It’s unclear what devices Firefox could partner with in SA, but elsewhere in the world handset makers such as low-cost Alcatel and LG smartphones.
Mozilla describes Firefox OS as the first device system built to open web standards, with every feature developed as an HTML5 application. This is unlike Android which has native applications that deliver faster download speeds and performance.
“As of today (Wednesday), Firefox OS has launched with local partners in 25 markets across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. With the upcoming move into the African region, Firefox OS will soon be available on five continents,” said Mozilla in a statement.
But CEO of technology research firm Strategy Worx Steven Ambrose warns that the Firefox OS launch could be muted in SA, a market dominated by Android and BlackBerry devices.
According to a survey by Effective Measure in August, 39.4% of South African desktop internet users own a Samsung smartphone brand containing the Android operating system. Meanwhile, BlackBerry and Nokia follow with 31.6% and 29.7% respectively.
“The impact will be small unless the ecosystem that exists around the OS grows exponentially,” Ambrose told Fin24.
“Currently the OS is a web wrapper with little or no native development,” he added.
South African tech blogger and CEO of Swift Consulting, Liron Segev, told Fin24 that having another smartphone OS is a positive development for consumer and developer choice in SA.
“We hardly have completely native Android on mobile devices as each OEM (original equipment maker) slaps their skin on top of it. So having a new OS is good to stimulate the developer community,” Segev told Fin24.
But Segev also questioned whether consumers will “bite” when Firefox OS phones land on SA’s shores.
“We don’t want to buy a phone and wonder if our usual apps will work and equally important, if the new apps will be developed for it,” Segev added.
Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have Firefox OS apps, but other services such as Instagram are absent from the system’s marketplace.
Android, on the other hand, has over one million apps in its Google Play Store.
SA’s surging smartphone growth
Ambrose told Fin24 that smartphone device growth is strong in South Africa, with approximately 35% usage rate of the total phone market. There are estimated to be over 50 million phones in South Africa according to researchers such as BuddeComm.
But Ambrose said that of these devices, up to 40% are not connected to the internet on a monthly basis owing to high costs.
Ambrose further told Fin24 that SA’s smartphone market is forecast to reach 50% penetration in 2015 of the total phone market, and reach around 70% in 2017, according to Ambrose.
As the SA smartphone market has grown, more mobile players entering its space is just another progression, noted Jon Hoehler, of Digitata Limited and a member of the Mobile Monday South Africa committee.
“I wouldn't say its a new wave but rather adding to the ever increasing penetration of smartphones into the market,” Hoehler told Fin24.
“We have seen mobile operators like MTN and Vodacom launch price competitive devices powered by Android into the market already in 2014,” he said.
* Follow @GarethvanZyl on Twitter. For more tech news, follow Fin24tech @Fin24_Tech.
