As Android-iOS dominate world, Indian start-ups working to end the duopoly

Recently, as US-China tensions escalated, a tech company got caught up in the storm. Chinese firm Huawei, the world’s biggest telecom equipment maker and a leading smartphone maker, was barred from using Google services. The result: It had to forgo Google Android operating system and develop its own. 

Pulling the plug on Android is a big blow to Huawei, as Android (with 90 per cent market share in India and similar share across the globe) is the dominant mobile operating system and a funnel for all other mobile services (through app store). Though Apple, which locks its users in its own operating system iOS, is the only other dominant force in OS, a few Indian upstarts are working to end this duopoly. Indus OS, a start-up from Bangalore, has an Indianised operating system for mobiles, used by phone makers like Karbonn and Micromax, among others. Another player on the block is Total, which is developed by social media company Hike. 

Not just with new launches, OS itself is changing the way it is served. Recently, InMobi, a mobile advertising network, struck a deal with smartphone companies to show its content on users' lock-screens. In time, this lock-screen will become a place to feature entertainment content, news as well as ads.