Huawei to offer dual-boot Android-Windows Phone smartphone in Q2
Huawei has found a novel way to take on the might of Apple and Samsung in the US smartphone market – it’s going to release a dual-boot smartphone that runs both Android and Windows Phone 8.
Using Android for its smartphone is a no-brainer since it is the most widely used mobile operating system today, so the question now is, why Windows Phone 8 and why a dual-boot smartphone?
First, Huawei knows that Windows Phone 8 doesn’t have anything like the user-base of Android. So pairing an unpopular OS to a popular one seems like a good idea. A dual-boot smartphone will allow users to experience using both platforms without having to purchase two separate phones. Users can easily shift from one to another, and if they get bored with one platform, they can just stick to using the one they like better. The device won’t go to waste.
“If it is Windows only, maybe people will not find it as easy a decision to buy the phone. If they have the Android and Windows together, you can change it as you wish and it is much easier for people to choose Windows Phone,” Shao Yang, Huawei’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview.
“We think the dual OS can be a new choice for the consumer,” he added.
As for choosing Windows Phone, this is because the company has already committed to making Windows Phone devices. iOS isn’t really an option of course, as it’s unlikely Apple will ever license its mobile OS to other OEMs. As for other platforms like BlackBerry’s OS, well that’s already dying a death, and up and coming mobile OS’s like Firefox and Ubuntu Phone probably aren’t quite ready for the prime time, at least in Huawei’s eyes.
Still, Huawei is keen to use other mobile platforms to use in its dual-boot smartphone, one that could capture more consumer interest, so the possibility remains.
“We are definitely looking at other platforms,” Yang said. “For any new operating system we are open to. We need to watch every OS.”
How about a Tizen-Android mash-up? Or Firefox OS-Android? Or even a triple whammy of Android, Windows Phone and Ubuntu? Certainly there’s no reason why it couldn’t be done.
The Huawei dual-boot smartphone is slated to be released in the US by the second quarter of this year.
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