Mozilla tried to carve a niche for itself in the Android dominated smartphone market by coming out with $25 smartphones powered by Firefox OS. The idea was to provide these very cheap smartphones in emerging markets where customers who were purchasing their first smartphone could do so for a lot less than what they would spend on a cheap Android device. This strategy doesn’t seem to have worked because Mozilla is giving up on its $25 Firefox smartphone plans.
CNET reports that Mozilla CEO Chris Beard has told employees in an email that the company is going to shake up its mobile strategy very soon. The email states that “We have not seen sufficient traction for a $25 phone.” Instead now they’ll focus on providing better user experience instead of “focusing on cost alone.”
This obviously doesn’t mean that Mozilla is going to jump straight into the high-end market and go up against the iPhones and the Galaxy S6s of the world. It still has a broad price range to work with.
The company just won’t target the extreme low end of the market with very cheap smartphones that don’t provide the same kind of user experience that people can get with a relatively cheaper Android device.
It’s also reported that the company is mulling over adding support for Android apps to its mobile OS to make it much more compelling option for customers. This is a tactic that even BlackBerry has used to bridge the app gap on its operating system.
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