Even though Android is still the most widely-used platform for mobile devices, there is a slowly-growing trend of OEMs themselves creating their own operating systems, even as they’re still based on Google’s platform. You have Microsoft, Samsung, and Xiaomi all creating their own OS for one reason or another. The newest brand that has announced its intention to do so as well is India’s Micromax, who has former Amazon executive Ashish Agrawal as its new technology head.
They will not be so drastic as to totally do away with it, but they’re looking at their own OS as a forked version of Android, which means it will be based on the open source mobile OS that Google has provided. They are also looking at developing a suite of apps and mobile services that can be used by various phones, tablets, televisions, and wearables, kind of what Microsoft is doing right now, which also cuts across platforms.
Micromax is based in India and is one of the biggest consumer electronics companies in the country. Agrawal said that international OEMs have been translating what they have been doing on their own platforms to India, but it’s a company like theirs that have a better understanding of what the Indian market really wants and needs. They also didn’t want to alienate their existing customer base by creating something totally different, that’s why they decided on a forked Android OS.
Micromax co-founder Vikas Jain said that since they are “excellent with partnerships,” they will still work with Android on this, while at the same time creating a “differentiated experience” for their consumers, not just with the OS but with the soon-to-be-developed apps as well. They are expected to introduce their first smartphone with the new OS by the end of this financial year.
VIA: Economic Times
