Devices supporting China Unicom’s Wophone platform are reportedly ready for launch. The platform is designed to compete with smartphones such as the Apple iPhone, as well as market leader China Mobile’s OPhone operating system.
The Wophone platform was originally intended to launch at the end of 2010. The six manufacturers of Wophone devices were named in February this year as Huawei, ZTE, HTC, Samsung, TCL and Motorola Mobility.
Although Wophone is based on Linux, it is not believed to be a customised build of Google’s Android OS – unlike China Mobile’s platform. Based on data from IHS iSuppli, the number of smartphones in China will hit 54.1 million this year, a record increase of 53% over 2010’s 35.3 million.
ZTE and Huawei are expected to ship around 10 and 15 million smartphone this year respectively, maintaining their leads in the market.
