It’s no secret that Sony is working on a new line of smartphones that will incorporate Firefox OS in 2014. I believe the shift in strategy is designed to help diversify Sony’s mobile portfolio and target more developing nations while lowering the company’s reliance on Android. In fact, in February, Sony showed off the HTML-5-based OS on the Xperia E which houses budgetary specs, exactly the segment the Firefox OS is designed to reach. Since then, things may have escalated a bit between Sony and Mozilla as the latest rumors suggest that the two are working on a premium handset. Li Gong, Mozilla’s senior vice president for mobile devices has gone on record, stating that

 Sony is known for quality and user experience. So they are targeting for very, very high (end). We are in joint discussions on the kind of device and what’s the product. 

While Sony has started to shift its smartphone production towards more premium models like the Xperia Z and ZL to fight off Apple and Samsung, it remains to be seen if Firefox can play in the same field. The fact however remains that a transition towards premium handsets also means more profits as they offer a higher margin than budget phones which tend to help with revenue and sales numbers. Li Gong goes on

 I can tell you there will be a third one (mobile OS) and it’s going to be us. Why it’s going to be us? It’s because we are the only company that takes a pure approach. We are entirely open. Not only open source, but open process. No price, no nothing, 

With the new BB10 OS having just launched and MS continuing to invest billions into Windows Phone, it remains to be seen if Mozilla can really leverage the true open source nature of their platform. In fact, the biggest hurdle of BB10 and Windows Phone isn’t their fee-based nature or lack of openness, but little developer interest and consumers content with iOS and Android.

Lin Gong, once again

 People like to see us because we are totally transparent. All the products, all the roadmaps, the delivery, feature sets, bugs, fixes, everything is open. Anybody can come in and see where it’s headed. 

While Android is touted as open source, the behind-the-scenes development of the OS and its upcoming versions are still closed off to telecom operators and hardware manufacturers. It seems that Gong is betting on the fact that with their platform, manufacturers and especially telecom operators will truly be able to do as they wish where with Android, unless specific guidelines are met, Google won’t allow of their services like Maps and YouTube.

Discuss:

Do you think Mozilla has a chance at bringing their Firefox OS to a third place position behind iOS and Android? And should Sony invest in Firefox OS or is it a distraction?

[Via ComputerWorld]