TelecomTV TelecomTV
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Events
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • DSP Leaders
  • Great Telco Debate
    • |
    • Follow
    • |
    • Subscribe
  • |
  • More
  • Webcasts
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Great Telco Debate
  • |
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • |
    • Subscribe
    • |
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Sign In Register Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
    • Register
  • Search

Media & Entertainment

Media & Entertainment

Video operating systems will shake out leaving Android and Harmony on top

Ian Scales
By Ian Scales

Mar 16, 2020

via ~Flickr © bigpresh (CC BY 2.0)

via ~Flickr © bigpresh (CC BY 2.0)

  • So says Rethink Technology Research in new report 
  • The struggle in the video OS market will see Android emerge leader, but it will face a Chinese government-backed Harmony OS in ‘neutral’ markets

Rethink Technology Research reports that the death of the settop is now in sight - but just not in the way until recently envisioned. It claims operators seem to be planning a dramatic reduction in the list of video operating systems designed to leave just Android TV and a few others, while Android looks likely to reign supreme and make huge gains in Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. Although it will score in North America, it will be held at bay by the resolute rock of RDK, increasingly dominant in the cable sector.

“Android TV, RDK and a handful of other specialist smart TV OSs will come to the fore, mostly at the expense of generic Linux variants, plus a new entry out of China as the US China trade war eliminates what would have been dominance there on Android in favor of Huawei’s Harmony,” says Rethink, which expects that  Huawei’s OS will eventually make the transition from Smart TV OS, to full blooded set top.

The projections are contained in a new report from Rethink Technology Research entitled “How to survive the Set Top Box endgame”

 “We believe that Android TV will surge to the top of the leaderboard with 24% of global pay TV subscriptions. In North America RDK will take 57% of set top OS subs but Android TV will surge to become the dominant OS for set tops over the five years to 2025. However, its rise will be much less successful on smart TVs, it claims.

The continued presence of proprietary OSs on major smart TV brands, notably Samsung with Tizen and LG with WebOS, will hold Android back there, as will China’s growing adoption of Huawei’s Harmony as the national video OS. The trade dispute between China and the US, with resulting concerns over access to Android updates, has galvanized the Chinese government to push for a major independent national OS, with Harmony the overwhelming hot favorite. In the short term Huawei and others will continue to favor Android for set tops and other connected devices including smart phones and tablets. However, the likely longer term direction is towards Harmony as a ubiquitous cross platform OS that will also increasingly take on Android in neutral markets outside China, especially some of the Asia Pacific and Latin American countries, it claims. 

We want to hear from you

Take part in our 5G and Security survey and receive a free copy of the downloadable report ahead of general release

Related Topics
  • Analysis & Opinion,
  • Asia-Pacific,
  • Business Models,
  • Google,
  • Huawei,
  • Media & Entertainment,
  • News,
  • North America,
  • Patents and IPR,
  • Video

More Like This

Digital Platforms & Services

Australia’s Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code has landed

Feb 26, 2021

Digital Platforms & Services

Technology and media entities join forces to create standards group aimed at building trust in online content

Feb 23, 2021

Access Evolution

FCC renews the effort to get its Broadband Coverage Maps in order

Feb 19, 2021

Digital Platforms & Services

Strewth! Facebook puts its foot in it: Zuckerberg makes huge strategic error

Feb 19, 2021

Digital Platforms & Services

You can’t take down trillion-dollar companies with duct tape and Band-Aids

Feb 5, 2021

Email Newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest industry developments: sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox – including our daily news briefing and weekly wrap.

Subscribe

Top Picks

Highlights of our content from across TelecomTV today

18:24

How Zoom evolved in the pandemic era

26:24

Red Hat and HPE discuss how to support open multi-vendor 5G network slices

14:28

How RADCOM is helping Rakuten Mobile run its innovative 5G network

8:33

Monetizing innovative telco edge services

  • TelecomTV
  • Decisive Media

TelecomTV is produced by the team at Decisive Media

Menu
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
 
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Events
  • About Us
Our Brands
  • TelecomTV Tracker
  • TelecomTV Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • The Great Telco Debate
Get In Touch
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 448 1070

Request a Media Pack

Follow
  • © Decisive Media Limited 2021. All rights reserved. All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Legal Notices