Firefox Mobile Is Doomed to Failure: 10 Reasons Why

by Don Reisinger

In order for Firefox OS to make an impact in the smartphone market, current owners of devices like Apple’s iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S 4 must be impressed. However, the operating system is less powerful than Android or iOS and the device designs lack high-end specifications already available in other mobile platforms. So, customers won’t be impressed at all.

Mozilla’s Firefox OS is based on the principle that people are increasingly using the Web for all of their computing needs, and therefore, an operating system should be offered that appeals to those needs. What the company forgets, however, is that an always-on Web connection isn’t necessarily available in some parts around the world. The Internet might be ubiquitous in some countries, but in emerging markets where Firefox OS might have the best chance of succeeding, the Web-based functionality could prove to be an issue.

The ZTE Open and the Alcatel One Touch have nothing on the iPhone 5. In fact, the devices, which boast markedly obsolete specifications and relatively ugly designs, cannot hold a candle to even the less-popular Android-based smartphones on the market, let alone the high-end Galaxy S 4 or Apple’s iPhone. Until Firefox OS can accommodate high-end products, it’ll have a hard time grabbing consumer attention.

Although Alcatel and ZTE are fairly important players in some regions around round the world, they don’t have a big presence in North America. For Firefox OS to become a serious mobile market contender, Mozilla needs to sign up makes such as Samsung or even HTC. Those are the brands that the largest number of people respect, which would help sell Firefox OS devices.

Mozilla has done a nice job promoting the applications that will be available with Firefox OS, including popular games and Facebook and Twitter, but the company’s application marketplace will be light years behind the App Store and the Google Play marketplace in terms of the quantity of apps. That’s a huge issue for Firefox OS, and something that Mozilla must address if it wants to even come close to matching its competitors.

Ask a typical consumer what they know about Firefox OS, and chances are, they won’t even know what you’re talking about. Mozilla has done an extremely poor job of educating the consumer base about the development of Firefox OS. Education is central to a platform’s success. Yet, Mozilla missed the boat on that key factor. It’s a shame.

The enterprise is one of the main reasons Android and iOS continue to gain ground in the mobile space. The Bring Your Own Device craze is taking off around the world, and IT decision-makers are realizing that allowing these mobile platforms into the office isn’t such a bad idea. But Firefox OS is less powerful, designed for consumers and has hardly any enterprise-friendly features. That it will never appeal to the corporate world is a huge issue for the platform.

Nothing nowadays is unique in the mobile space. It seems as if every single feature in every device is based on something available elsewhere. Still, some companies, like Samsung and Apple, are able to deliver some enhancements and features that make their products special. Looking at Firefox OS, it doesn’t have that special something to attract customers. It will fail without that special quality.

Mozilla itself has said that it’s not trying to be the next Android or iOS, but to offer an alternative to customers that don’t want those platforms. That mentality is all wrong. Android should be squarely in Mozilla’s sights. The operating system appeals to customers in developed countries as well as those in emerging markets. Plus, it runs on many types of devices and is very popular with devices makers as well as their customers. If Mozilla wants to win any significant market share of its own it has to try to chip away at Android, the other open source mobile OS.