Cyanogen – Lucky 13

Reply to this post

Cyanogen refreshes the parts other ecosystems don’t reach.

• Although Cyanogen’s business model remains highly questionable, the evolutions it is making to the user experience show a good understanding of what will drive ecosystems in the long term.
• With the release of Cyanogen OS 13.0 release 1, Cyanogen’s latest innovations within the user experience are ready to make it onto real devices.
• The big difference with Cyanogen OS 13.0 is the inclusion of what Cyanogen refers to as Mods which are apps and services that have been deeply integrated into the OS.
• This allows them to be more aware, more contextual with access to much more data than normal apps.
• Consequently, Mods can offer the user a deeper and richer experience which I have long believed will be very important factor in the user’s ecosystem decision over the next 3-5 years.
• In effect Mods are apps that sit on top an application framework which extracts the data that the apps generate and stores it in a common database.
• This data is then made available to any other app that is also using the application framework.
• This how Mods can be aware of what is relevant and of interest to the user even when that data has been generated by another function or service.
• In iOS and regular Android today, every app is an island keeping the data to itself and can only access the data that it generates.
• This is fine for basic functionality but as ecosystems become more sophisticated and users want more from their devices, it becomes limiting as advanced functionality is not possible without the sharing of data.
• This is exactly what RFM’s Law of Robotics No. 5: Data Sharing calls for in terms of assessing how well an ecosystem is set up to differentiate in the long term.
• Cyanogen has already created some Mods to get the ball rolling but the idea is that handset makers and other licensees of the software create their own in order to differentiate their products.
• Truecaller, Social lock screen, Skype, Cortana and OneNote are all examples of mods that are available from the beginning.
• The fact that 3 out of 5 of the launch mods are from Microsoft comes as no surprise, as it has long embraced the idea of data sharing by apps.
• I think that this puts Cyanogen in a good position to improve its appeal to handset makers as this approach is currently unique.
• Unfortunately, I think that traction in the last 12 months has proved difficult.
• Its biggest customer Micromax has lost 50% of its share in its home market and Chinese vendors that started with Cyanogen have since moved off and are doing their own thing.
• This leaves Cyanogen as a great option for many of the smaller niche vendors like Wileyfox and Obi Mobiles but to make money, this company badly needs a large vendor to use it so it can rack-up some meaningful volume.
• Consequently, I think that Cyanogen’s vision is right but to keep its shareholders happy, it needs to focus on practical strategy and execution.