As iPhone 5C Fades, Firefox OS And Android Square Off In Emerging Markets

Emerging markets are poised to make a big impact on mobile computing, and this is where Firefox OS has a real chance against Android.

The mobile market is about to get interesting. For years, Apple has dominated both market and profit share, with Google's Android more recently having severely cut into Apple's market share while also taking a bite out of profits.

Meanwhile, almost completely forgotten in the mix is Firefox OS, Mozilla's browser-centric mobile OS, which has been making gains of its own lately. Given Apple's unwillingness to compete in low-margin markets, we're about to see a serious scuffle between Firefox and Android for the future of mobile computing.

Apple Locking Itself Out Of The Future Of Mobile?

Smartphones have reshaped mobile, but really only in the rich Western world. Throughout much of the planet, old-school feature phones still dominate, though this is changing, as research from NPD illustrates: