Earlier this month at Mobile Event 2.0, Mozilla demoed the smartphone operating system it is working on, Firefox OS (previously named Boot 2 Gecko). The smartphone OS isn't necessarily the next "must have" operating system for high-end devices, but will be an open-source operating system that is being designed to optimize performance on low-end entry-level devices.

Mozilla seems to be making the correct moves, as recent research provided by Strategy Analytics predicts that Firefox OS will capture 1% of global smartphone shipments in 2013. While Mozilla has had initial success so far gaining ample supports from operators such as ZTE and Telefonica, it still has to compete for the same market share that is currently dominated by Google's Android OS.

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics explains:

"To succeed, Firefox OS will need to address at least three main challenges; they are low brand awareness among smartphone consumers worldwide, a limited retail presence in the influential United States market, and a relatively modest ecosystem of supporting apps and services."

Will the open-source HTML 5 operating system be able to compete with the world's most popular OS? While Firefox OS is certainly still the underdog in the fight, the accessible operating system does seem to meet a real need, greatly augmenting the performance of low-end devices.

However, it is too early to say how Mozilla will fare in this new venture, but as we approach 2013 and the release of Firefox OS things will inevitably become much clearer.