Which OS Ecosystem is the Best for Mobile Devices?

Which Mobile OS for enterprises?
It's quite evident that MS is now getting its act together -with Windows 8. It has the tacit advantage of a large captive customer base of MS Windows installs. Even though, Windows 8 is not the same as its previous versions, the marketing shell has done a nice job of ‘trying' to make it look similar to the predecessors. And it offers the enterprise one single most important benefit -no need to change from the existing infra-structure. This however does not encourge the concept of BYOD. If at all, it kind of works against the principles of open engagement. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to convince the end user -specially the BYOD owners, to switch/buy a Windows 8 device. So as long as the company is willing to pay for the platform and device, MS entry would be assured. Android on the other hand has expanded its horizon, by adding more corporate/enterprise level applications. But all of this is purely coincidental.

There are very few companies focusing on growing the Android enterprise market. I would look at it as a huge opportunity for solution providers to get into Segments that are highly sensitive to price such as education, public sector, etc, Android would be a natural choice. BlackBerry has made a feeble attempt to invigorate its lineup, but is yet to impress people. Apple devices continue to dominate the senior executive brief cases, but due to its price points, it would be a long time, before it becomes pervasive.

Which Mobile OS best for consumers?
By early last month (Feb 2013), Android was selling around 31% of all smart phones sold. The closest to it was Apple with about 9%, Microsoft and BlackBerry with 2% and 1% respectively. In addition, Android improved its position 88% year on year, while iOS moved up by 23%. Others devices
were only in traces. This reflects a clear bias of the user towards the Android market place. Interesting to note is that in this cutthroat market, iOS (and even Samsung) have emerged highest on profitability. With more and more ‘brands' available in the Android segment. This is surely witnessing an all out benefit. iOS continues to be aspirational product and enjoys a clear demand with the affluent part of the consumer. Additionally, iOS gives you the ability to create an almost ‘out-of-the-box' solution for your media network at home. Google Play offers, virtually no-content as compared to iTunes, at least not the paid ones. This is a strong for
people who are willing to pay money for content. For people in India, who have got used to ‘free' content, this may not be that big an attraction. Windows 8 has yet to show anything extra-ordinary for the consumer segment, that is not already available with Android or iOS. Lack of
content, applications will be first barrier for it to overcome in the consumer segment. 

Which mobile OS best for developers?
iTunes App Store today outsells all other formats of developers application. This is in spite of the fact that as of Jan 2013, both iTunes App Store and Google Play host around 750,000 apps each. So if you are a developer, you are likely to secure more money on iTunes store than you would with Android. However, Google Play is growing at a significantly
higher rate (200% YoY) than iTunes (20% YoY). So much so, that it is expected that Google play will supersede iTunes, by early 2014 - less than 12 months. So if you are an individual developer, you may want to be focused around iOS. Bear in mind, if your development cycle is about 8-12 months though, that you would have an equal opportunity to address the Android base. If however, you have skills around MS world, it would be beneficial to focus energy on enterprise apps, you can be assured that
Microsoft will support.

Data Sources.