China doesn't care much about iOS or Android, and it has made its feelings about the foreign-made mobile OS very clear by rolling out the Chinese Operating System or COS.
Rumors about the Chinese government-backed operating system have been circulating for quite a while and Engadget, which was the first to spot it in the open, reported about its uncanny similarities with the Android platform.
"Ironically, all the COS variants -- in the form of phones, tablets, PCs and set-top boxes -- shown in the promo video...are very Android-like, and some of those features, like multitasking, content streaming and remote desktop, are nothing new," Richard Lai of Engadget wrote.
According to a report on Chinese website People.com.cn, the Chinese mobile OS is a project of a local company Shanghai Liantong in collaboration with the Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Linux-based COS is said to have been developed independently with the primary goal of ending the monopoly of foreign mobile operating systems. It was designed specifically for the Chinese market.
"Despite a late start, COS starts on a high note with a broader strategy in mind. It is also suitable for the conditions in China, providing much needed support for the local manufacturers that wants to compete in a very competitive environment," the article (translated) read.
Per a Wall Street Journal report, there are also speculations that HTC played a big role, if not a direct one, in creating COS for the Chinese market. The mobile manufacturer hopes to tap one of the biggest economies in the world as it struggles to make a turnaround. However, a press statement from the makers of the OS clarified that HTC has nothing to do with COS. The involved parties pointed out that it has no relationship with HTC.
It is still not clear how COS can make a dent in the market ruled by Google and Apple but it has its task cearly cut out. In a study done by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech in 2013, about 42 percent of mobile users in China uses Android while almost 20 percent relies on iOS. So COS can either target the remaining market share, which is fragmented and controlled by smaller players such as Windows Phone or else, it can play for big stakes and aim to overtake iOS and Android.
