Firefox OS: Mozilla pushes $25 smartphones!

If you are contemplating between buying the Galaxy S5 or waiting for iPhone 6, chances are, you're pretty well-off. In some countries where $50 could be food expenses for the month, citizens don't even know $500 smartphones exist. And that market, is exactly what Mozilla had set its sights on.

The browser-based OS is suitable for low-end smartphones.

In places like India and Indonesia, iOS and Android are vulnerable because only the elites could afford them. Decent smartphones are getting cheaper (e.g. Redmi, Moto G) but they are still not affordable enough for some. That's why Mozilla aims to bring its browser-based operating system to these places, because they could cost as low as $25. At least Mozilla hopes so.

Dirt Cheap: Mozilla's Prototype $25 phone.

At the Mobile World Congress, Mozilla announced a deal with Chinese chipmaker with Spreadtrum Communications. It would enable low-cost Firefox OS smartphones to be made. Mozilla's Chief Technology Officer Brandon Eich told CNET:

"We're working with them to break through the $50 barrier, which is hard. This is going to be for a set of [sales] channels in Asia that do not involve operators,"

Indonesia-based company Polytron plans to promote the devices and will be sold by its local carriers Telkomsel and Indosat.

Mozilla's smartphones would first debut in Hungary, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Greece. Its partners, Alcatel and ZTE debuted upgraded, dual-core processor phones with larger-screen options without raising price. Alcatel also introduced the One Touch Fire S, a Firefox OS smartphone with quad-core processor and 4G LTE. It plans a new tablet, the One Touch Fire 7.

Huawei Ascend Y300: At $139, it is still too expensive for Mozilla's liking.

Mozilla's new partner, Huawei, also showed off the Y300 Firefox OS phone at WMC. It was introduced last year and comes with a 4-inch 800x480 resolution screen, dual-core processor, 512Mb of RAM and a decent 5-megapixel rear camera. It also has a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera and runs Firefox OS 1.1.

Granted, the low-cost phones could not run complicated apps and does not have crystal-clear screens, but for $25? Compared with feature phones of the same price, Mozilla has achieved an impressive feat.

For some, $25 is not even enough for a bottle of fine wine.


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Written by: Kheng Wei Ang