ARCchart Blueprint: OS consolidation? What consolidation?

ARCchart provides a lengthy analysis that finds "far from the market consolidating around one or two of major OS platforms, the number of middleware systems for which applications can be developed for is actually increasing. There seems to be no shortage of software companies, hardware vendors, handset manufacturers and even mobile operators, pushing some kind of phone operating system, or application platform. The mobile OS story is no longer simply about a war between Microsoft and Nokia."

ARCchart comments on Canalys' recent research about the growing worldwide market for smartphones, and while the firm believes these smartphone OSes "are set to filter down onto mainstream devices," they note that although "smart mobile devices may reach 60 million units in 2005, it still represents less that 7% of the forecast market for total handset shipments this year."

After a thorough analysis of the current situation and players, ARCchart leaves with an open-ended conclusion that sort of states the obvious:

The mobile OS story is no longer simply about a war between Microsoft and Nokia. Rather, the market’s diversity is likely to continue, and for the foreseeable future it will be the solutions which can deliver the widest application support across the greatest portion of mass market devices which will enjoy the greatest success.