According to a new study by ABI Research, more than 127 million mobile devices will be enabled with a commercial Linux OS by 2012, up from 8.1 million in 2007. The study also notes that device shipments that incorporate Linux as a real-time operating system (RTOS) replacement are set to grow to more than 76 million units in 2012, up from nearly zero in 2007.

"Linux in the cellular phone is not a question of ‘if', but ‘when'," claims research director Stuart Carlaw.

The report mentions that the most fundamental issue that has plagued the growth of commercial Linux in this space — vertical and horizontal market fragmentation — has shown signs of being alleviated, by growing collaboration between industry initiatives, and the introduction of solutions such as GreenSuite and ALP.

However, issues with latency have prevented Linux from being considered as a viable RTOS replacement in single-processor devices. To this, Carlaw replies, "Innovative solutions such as PREEMPT_RT, the VirtualLogix virtual operating environment, and the use of RTOS executives over Linux kernels, look set to deal with latency issues."

The report also chalks out significant barriers that still exist and must be addressed before Linux emerges as a true market power.