Droi Technology's Freeme OS a Successful Example of Commercialization Efforts Keeping Third-Party OS Vendors Dynamic

SHANGHAI, March 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the latest forecast from market research firm IDC, the world is expected to witness shipments of up to 1.5 billion smartphones in 2016. With the explosive growth of the smartphone market, operating systems are becoming increasingly important in terms of meeting the needs of the users. In addition, thanks to the openness of the Android system, the third-party OS sector is growing rapidly. In China, the world's largest smartphone market, among the many competitors, Droi Technology's Freeme OS, Alibaba's YunOS and Tencent's TOS have become the top three developed-in-China third-party operating systems, while Droi Technology's Freeme OS is the only one of China's third-party OS gaining successes in its commercialization efforts.

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The path to commercialization

With the aim of improving their competitiveness in the large smartphone market, large smartphone makers have been pulling out all the stops to develop their own operating systems with a focus on meeting the needs of users. This has presented challenges to third-party OS vendors and forced them to maintain profitability as they enter the broader market.

Many third-party OS vendors around the world are initiating commercialization projects. Open-source operating system for smartphones and tablet computers CyanogenMod was initially strictly an open source community, with no money changing hands, but kicked off a commercialization process in 2013, drawing the attention of technology giants, among them Google and Microsoft. In China, Freeme OS had decided on a commercialization path since inception.

The foundation for the successful commercialization of a third-party OS can be summarized as good user experience, the ability to deal with fragmented hardware configurations, continuous product updates and excellent mobile Internet services. Freeme OS is an Android L-based 64-bit intelligent operating system, which optimizes and upgrades more than 3,000 functionalities with the aim of providing a new and unprecedented user experience. Droi Technology's research institute in Taipei officially opened for operation in December 2015, and features a combination of a world-class team of experts and outsize strength in technology. Going forward, Droi Technology also plans to build R&D centers in the US and Israel, from which it plans to develop and offer Freeme OS with a new level of technical prowess and continuous updates. Droi Technology is a mobile Internet company with strong hardware capabilities, combining hardware, the operating system and app services. Last year, the company initiated its "FreemeOS+" plan, whereby the business scope was expanded into a range of intelligent hardware fields including smart TV, smart wearables and automotive electronics, with the aim of creating an integrated smart life series of solutions for users worldwide.

The successful commercialization of Freeme OS is based on three advantages:

• Droi Technology owns strong hardware capabilities, allowing for open source hardware and software platforms featuring the Freeme OS, providing small and medium-sized businesses with a strong lineup of functionalities;
• Freeme OS is inclusive to the point that the system embraces all premium Internet services, enabling an ever growing universe of mobile phone users across a long list of niche brands the ability to access the Internet;
• Freeme OS provides a variety of flexible options for cooperation ranging from customizing ROM to combining hardware with OS, offering small- and medium-sized vendors more choices while widening the development path of the company, according to Ma Chao, general manager of the Freeme OS+ operation at Droi Technology.

Take two development paths simultaneously

Unlike mobile phone giants, who focus on developing their own systems, Freeme OS is dedicated to servicing small and medium-sized mobile phone makers, converging the seemly dispersive but large market. Droi Technology now provides software and hardware solutions to over 200 mobile phone makers within and outside of China, the vast majority of which are small and medium-sized manufacturers.

China's third-party OS vendors are gradually trying to expand beyond their home market. To cite an example, the country's third-party OS Lewa announced in February 2016 that the firm is gradually expanding its presence from the domestic market into overseas markets, providing Lewa OS with a global user base.

Since 2014, Freeme OS has started expanding beyond the borders of the home market, teaming up with mobile phone makers in France, Italy, Russia, India, Thailand and South America to offer operating systems or integrated software and hardware solutions. Freeme OS now has up to 85 million users, including its large base of domestic users and an increasing number of overseas users.

According to IDC's latest prediction, the world is expected to ship up to 1.62 billion Android-powered smartphones by 2020, with the market share climbing from 81 to 85 per cent. By region, India and Southeast Asia achieved higher growth in 2015 and are expected to maintain the healthy growth trend. These industry trends augur well for Freeme OS's broader commercialization prospects.

SOURCE Droi Technology