The creator of the new Firefox OS platform, Mozilla, has confirmed that it's not planning to produce its own hardware alongside its mobile software.
Speaking to Digitimes, Mozilla's mobile device senior vice president Gong Li explained it was leaving the manufacturing process to its partners who include ZTE, Alcatel, Huawei, LG and Sony.
We saw a couple of handsets sporting Firefox OS at MWC this year in the form of the ZTE Open and Alcatel OneTouch Fire - both of which are low cost offerings aimed at emerging markets.
Li said if Mozilla started producing own-brand devices it would create unnecessary competition with ODMs, which could put them off developing for Firefox OS - and it's on a drive to recruit as many manufacturers as it can.
Samsung and HTC not in
Two noticeable absentees from the list are Samsung and HTC, which have decided to stick with Android and Windows Phone for the time being, although Li hasn't ruled out involvement from both in the future.
"Firefox OS is a new operating system. For vendors, the question of whether to adopt and when to adopt is based on considerations varying from one to another," he said.
"Some vendors will stick to Android and need not choose Firefox OS for the time being, others want to choose non-Android platforms but may not adopt Firefox OS."
It's still early days for the HTML 5-based Firefox OS and we're unlikely to see it make any great strides in the UK, US or Australia in the near future, but if it takes hold in the developing world it could become an overnight hit.
Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/mozilla-leaves-firefox-os-handsets-to-manufacturers-1161169
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