Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin has called for consolidation of mobile operating systems, and a renewed focus on user experience. “The first imperative for us is world-class user experience,” Sarin said. “The easier the interface, the more you use it and the more you get onto the Internet.” Sarin explained that mobile operating systems are crucial components of that experience, but that there are currently too many on the market — as many as 30 or 40, he estimated.
“We have to reduce that number. There’s no way that developers of cool applications can develop for that many operating systems. If we had three, four, five, that would be better,” he said.
Sarin went on to praise the iPhone for its user experience, saying, “Apple has raised the bar with the iPhone, and we all now know how important user interfaces are. We as an industry will have to raise our game to provide the kind of user interface that our customers are now becoming accustomed to.” Vodafone was at one time rumored to be the front-runner among possible carriers for the iPhone in the UK; it was later announced that the iPhone would be offered by rival carrier O2.