MeeGo is dead: Meet Tizen, another new open source OS based on Linux
First there was Maemo and Moblin, combined to form MeeGo under the stewardship of Nokia and Intel. The OS has been floundering after the defection of Nokia to Windows Phone, with plenty of rumors suggesting Intel's been looking for a buyer.
Context & Ripple Effects
MeeGo's collapse has been visible for months: Nokia scrapped its first MeeGo phone before launch in February 2011, operators reportedly rejected the device outright, and Intel was reportedly left in the dark over Nokia's plans — after the project's device chief had already quit in late 2010. The lineage itself was a restart: Maemo and Moblin were merged into MeeGo under Nokia and Intel, building on Intel's earlier push for Moblin as a netbook OS.
With Nokia committed to Windows Phone, MeeGo lost its only anchor handset maker, and rumors have circulated that Intel was seeking a buyer for the floundering OS. Tizen, a fresh Linux-based open source effort, is the answer — and syndicated coverage frames it explicitly as Intel and Samsung's counter to Android, meaning the platform survives by swapping its hardware sponsor rather than by fixing what went wrong.
First-order effects
- Intel's mobile software bet shifts from rescuing MeeGo to backing Tizen, with Samsung replacing Nokia as the hardware partner whose devices would give the OS market relevance.
- Developers and operators who had been waiting on MeeGo handsets — including the carriers that rejected the first device — are left with no shipping product and must decide whether the successor merits renewed investment.
Second-order effects
- Samsung gains a differentiated, license-free alternative to Android at exactly the moment its Android business depends on Google's goodwill, while Microsoft's Windows Phone pitch to Nokia looks stronger with no rival in-house Linux option competing for Nokia's engineering attention.
- Every other Linux-based mobile platform now competes against a rebooted effort backed by two of the largest chip and handset makers, raising the bar for smaller OS projects to attract OEM commitments.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points to mobile operating systems consolidating around whichever platform has a committed anchor hardware maker — open source code alone does not keep an OS alive, as Maemo-to-Moblin-to-MeeGo-to-Tizen churn shows.
- If Tizen follows the same sponsor-dependent trajectory, handset makers may increasingly treat OS bets as hedging positions against Android rather than genuine ecosystem-building efforts.
The trend: Mobile OS competition is consolidating around platforms with committed anchor hardware makers, with Linux-based projects surviving only by finding new OEM sponsors when their original backer defects.