Android and iOS are effectively the only two major smartphone platforms on the market today, accounting for 99.4% of the global market according to StatCounter.
Does the world need a third smartphone platform though? That’s the topic of our featured poll today, so make your choice below and leave a comment if you’d like to elaborate.
We can understand why you’d feel two major platforms are enough. Android and iOS represent different approaches to the smartphone OS, giving users two stark choices to cover their needs and wants. You could also argue that dead/abandoned platforms like BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone serve as proof that we don’t need a third platform. Plus, we still have extremely niche alternative platforms today like Sailfish, Ubuntu Touch, and PureOS.
Then again, we can see why you might want a third major smartphone platform. The current landscape is effectively a duopoly right now for both consumers and app developers, so some proper competition from a big company could therefore be a good thing. You could also argue that the industry experienced peaks in terms of innovation when BlackBerry 10, WebOS, and Windows Phone were around at various points. Features like gesture navigation, card-based multitasking, desktop modes, and wireless charging debuted on these platforms first.
