IT Manager's Journal has published a story suggesting that Linux is well-positioned to become the standard operating system platform for mobile phones. The article is based on an interview with Liz Gasser, who oversees the Linux program at phone software giant Openwave.

Openwave claims to have a 50 percent share of the mobile phone software market, according to the article, and hopes to increase its share even more through strategic investments in Linux with partner MontaVista.

Linux based OSes and application stacks are under development by handset makers, telcos, and access companies, the article says, laying the groundwork for Linux to become the standard mobile phone platform on which companies from several converging industries will compete on the basis of value-adds.

The article suggests that world number one mobile phone vendor Nokia, a current Openwave customer, may turn toward embedded Linux software developed in-house, despite its nearly two-thirds stake in Symbian. It implies that in order to retain Nokia as a customer, Openwave must produce a better Linux based phone application stack than Nokia.

The article says phone vendors pay about $12 per phone for Symbian, and more for Microsoft phone OSes. Linux development costs are estimated to be slightly higher initially, it suggests, but are recovered over time due to the huge volumes of mobile handsets, resulting in cost savings. Additionally, Linux can run on less expensive hardware, according to Openwave as quoted in the article.

Openwave expects Linux phones to thrive initially in Asia, where Motorola and others have already shipped Linux based phones. It expects European and U.S. Linux phones to follow quickly, however.

Phones with sophisticated OSes such as Linux, Windows Mobile, and Symbian will comprise about half the total phone market, according to the article.

The article is the second in a two-part series. We covered the first part, here.

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