Motorola is moving forward with the development of its own web-based mobile operating system. Citing “a source familiar with the matter,” InformationWeek.com is reporting that the company has already hired a number of experienced mobile and Web engineers from Apple and Adobe for the project. As far back as over a year ago, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha suggested that Motorola would consider developing its own mobile operating system.
Motorola has not denied the existence of this project but also reaffirmed its support for Android. “Motorola Mobility is committed to Android as an operating system,” a company spokesperson said via email to InformationWeek.com. For now at least, Motorola remains Google’s only major licensee fully committed to Android.
Motorola is looking to mitigate risks with its dependence on a single operating system. Concerns about patent claims by Oracle against Google, Android fragmentation, product differentiation, and issues related to Google’s support for its partners are all reasons that Motorola needs an alternative strategy if Android begins to move in a direction it does not want to go.
It is unlikely that Motorola will abandon Android any time soon but we could see a dual OS strategy in the future.