J
Justin Herrick
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Some of the biggest technology companies in the world are all taking a look at Android software developer Cyanogen. They are the developer of the very popular custom CyanogenMod ROM. The community for CyanogenMod has been so strong that is has been questioned whether or not it is actually in contention to be the world’s third most popular mobile operating system. It is being reported by The Information that Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung, and Yahoo have all been keeping an eye on Cyanogen with an acquisition or at least a partnership in mind.
The common theme among all of these prospective partners or buyers is that they want separation from Google and Android. Everyone could cash in on Cyanogen and build something of its own quickly due to its popularity. OnePlus has tried to do it as a hardware partner, but they have enough problems of their own to deal with before being taken seriously.
Microsoft has its own Windows Phone operating system, but its growth has been sluggish. They now own the company that was giving it the most attention in Nokia. Cyanogen would be Microsoft’s entrance into Android that Nokia missed with its budget handsets. Of all of the interested parties, Satya Nadella is the only confirmed leader to meet with Cyanogen. Within the last year, Microsoft has been showing a big interest in developing hardware to compete. A pairing with a more lucrative mobile operating system could be what Microsoft needs.
Amazon has its Fire OS, but essentially locks everyone out if they are not heavy users of its services. Jeff Bezos is notorious for keeping everything in-house, thus a pairing between Amazon and Cyanogen seems unlikely. But no one really thought Twitch would be under Bezos’ ownership. They could pull out another surprise and take Android seriously by welcoming a wider audience.
And Samsung has been longing for something other than Android for quite some time with its Tizen OS and now that has remained on its wearables. However, the Android experience created by Samsung is cleaned up now and consumers seem to be warming up to it. There does not seem to be a real value for Samsung to purchase Cyanogen as it would not really add any additional value to what it already has.
Yahoo is the wild card. Its purchase and relaunch of the Aviate launcher means that Marissa Mayer is quite serious about being involved with mobile. The fact that they lack any true hardware manufacturing is a bit puzzling at the moment. Yahoo would need to find someone to manufacturer an actual device rather than picking up Cyanogen and getting started right away. One option would be partnering with a hardware manufacturer and just focusing on Cyanogen’s software if it were to acquire the software developer.
Between these four companies, who do you think should partner or acquire Cyanogen? Let us know in the comments.
Source: The Information
Come comment on this article: Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung, and Yahoo all express interest in Cyanogen
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