Mozilla and Foxconn sent out invitations on Tuesday to a press event on June 3 where the two companies will be debuting a new device that runs on a Firefox operating system according to Focus Taiwan. One company insider has told reporters that the new Firefox OS product will likely be a tablet.
The Firefox operating system is relatively new since only two phones, each manufactured by a Spanish company known as GeeksPhone debuted in late April. In February Mozilla announced its telecom partners, operators and manufacturers including Deutsche Telekom, Sprint, SingTel, LG and Huawei. While these partners aren't necessarily major players in the market, especially in the U.S., Mozilla is a nonprofit organization who gears its Firefox OS toward the more budget conscious consumer regions.
According to CNET, Mozilla's status as a nonprofit makes it ideal for creating and fostering openness on the Web because it doesn't have to do everything to please shareholders. However, this means Firefox doesn't have the resources to be as fast growing a web presence, especially in the mobile market.
A Wall Street Journal article published on Monday reports that Hon Hai, one of the companies partnering with Firefox to make this new device that will be announced on June 3, is looking to diversify away from Apple. The company draws an estimated 60 percent of its revenue from the assembly of Apple products.
They saw a decrease in profit last quarter as sales of the iPhone and iPad slowed down significantly. As a result, this new Firefox OS product might be in a good position to help make up for some of that lost revenue. According to Reuters, the company has said that it would add Firefox OS products to its production line in addition to its Apple and Google products.
