Mozilla to shut down Firefox smartphone operating system
05 Feb 2016
The Firefox smartphone operating system aimed at challenging the dominant platforms powered by Apple and Google iss being shut down, three years after launch, developers said today.
According to a statement from Mozilla developer George Roter, the open-source system, created by the Mozilla developer community, as an open-source system failed to gain traction in mobile devices.
"Through the work of hundreds of contributors we made an awesome push and created an impressive platform in Firefox OS," he said in a blog post.
"However, as we announced in December, the circumstances of multiple established operating systems and app ecosystems meant that we were playing catch-up, and the conditions were not there for Mozilla to win on commercial smartphones."
According to Roter, Mozilla had set "our plan to end-of-life support for smartphones after the Firefox OS 2.6 release" which means that "Firefox OS for smartphones will no longer have staff involvement beyond May."
Mozilla, in 2013, tied-up with Spanish-based GeeksPhone to launch two low-cost devices powered by Firefox.
In 2014, Firefox devices made by China's ZTE and TCL were announced at a low cost of $25.
According to Roter, Mozilla made the decision as part of a push "to pivot from 'Firefox OS' to 'connected devices' " and would focus on the development of open-source software for the Internet of Things - a category which included everything from connected cars to lightbulbs.
Ari Jaaksi, Mozilla's SVP of Connected Devices, said at the Mozlando developer event last December that its great smartphone experiment would soon be winding down. "Firefox OS proved the flexibility of the Web, scaling from low-end smartphones all the way up to HD TVs," he noted at the time. "However, we weren't able to offer the best user experience possible and so we will stop offering Firefox OS smartphones through carrier channels."
According to commentators, though Mozilla, might be done developing Firefox OS for smartphones, it was, however, not closing the door on third-party app developers just yet.
