Top OS developers Apple, Microsoft, and Google will be in for another competition if China's plan to launch its own operating system pushes through this October. In a report by Chinese news agency, Xinhua.net, the OS will first be available for desktops which will later be expanded for use on mobile devices.
"We hope to launch a Chinese-made desktop operating system by October supporting app stores," said Ni Guangnam, the head of an OS development alliance established last March.
Ni's statement was originally reported in the People's Post and Telecommunications News, a publication under China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and later reported by Reuters.
Ni told the People's Post that the Chinese government's ban on Windows 8 and the end of support for Windows XP had opened the opportunity for the local OS developers to create homegrown products.
However, he admitted that problems exist, such as lack of funds for research. Furthermore, he expressed that there are "too many developers puling in different directions". As such, he views that the government should lead future developments.
"China has more than a dozen mobile OS developers with no independent intellectual property rights because their research is based on Android," Xinhua news agency quotes Ni as saying.
There has been conflict between China and foreign developers in the past. As mentioned by CNet, the country had blocked several of Google's services such as Gmail and YouTube, and it also banned the use of Windows 8 on government units.
Ni said, "Our key to success lies in an environment that can help us compete with Google, Apple and Microsoft."
