HTC considering purchasing a mobile OS

When Google acquired Motorola Mobility, its Senior Vice President of Mobile, Andy Rubin said that their vision of Android remains unchanged. He reiterated the fact that Android was an open platform and would continue to work with all of their partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices. However, it seems that HTC are skeptical of this and they believe that this acquisition of Motorola would put them in direct competition. According to a report by Taiwan’s Central News Agency, HTC is planning to do something about this and confirmed that they are considering buying a mobile operating system.

HTC to buy own OS to compete with Android?

HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang told the Economic Observer of China that HTC has given purchasing a mobile OS a thought and have discussed it internally. However, they will not do it on an impulse. HTC currently uses Google’s Android OS on most of their smartphones and a Windows Phone 7 on some of their other handsets. Wang said, “We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform. Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS." The report says that this second or third layer Wang was referring to was HTC Sense UI, which the company claims provides their smartphones with better user friendly features.

With HTC considering buying a mobile OS, what does this mean for the Android ecosystem? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.