"Despite the widely reported sales shortfalls of Motorola, which recently announced plans to ditch its aging in-house MotoMAGX Linux implementation in favor of Android, the company made some modest gains with its smartphones. Its 12.4 percent year-on-year increase has it "holding onto fourth place in smart phones thanks largely to its Linux-based models," according to Canalys. The A1600 smartphone (pictured at top) shipped at the start of the third quarter in the U.S., having shipped earlier in Asia, and likely contributed to Mot's relatively strong numbers.
"Motorola's modest improvements are reflected in major gains for the mobile OS it still dominates: Linux. Growing from a 4.4 percent share to a 5.1 percent share compared to 3Q 2007, Linux has now bridged the two million mark in quarterly shipments, representing 49 percent growth year-on-year, says Canalys. The estimate goes counter to Gartner's report on 2Q smartphone sales, where it reported Linux losing share. Other vendors, including ABI Research, have also noted gains by mobile Linux."
