13 new countries will get Firefox OS phones this year

Mar 1, 2015 23:33 GMT  ·  By

Mozilla's Firefox OS is aimed at the low-end market and the company only introduced its smartphones in a few countries in Europe and South America.

However, starting this year, Mozilla plans to launch new Firefox OS smartphones in 13 new markets in Africa and Middle East. The announcement was made today at Mobile World Congress 2015 trade fair.

This will be possible thanks to Orange, Mozilla's new partner that promises to bring Firefox OS to these new countries. The Orange Klif, one of the most recent Firefox OS smartphones, will be introduced in African and Middle Eastern countries soon and will be available for only $40 (€35) outright.

Some 3G smartphones based on Firefox OS will be available exclusively through Orange from Q2 in 13 markets, including, but not limited to, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Mali, The Ivory Coast, Jordan, Niger, Kenya, Mauritius and Vanuatu.

New partners invest in Firefox-based smartphones

Along with the announcement of the expansion of its market, Mozilla also confirmed it will collaborate with major carriers such as KDDI, LG U+, Telefonica and Verizon on a new category of phones based on Firefox OS.

This new range of smartphones will be launched in 2016 in various form factors, including flip, slider and slate. They will come with simple features like phone calls and texts, as well as more advanced features like Internet browser, LTE, VoLTE, camera, video apps, email and more.

“Two years ago Firefox OS was a promise. At MWC 2014, we were able to show that Firefox OS scales across price ranges and form factors. Today, at MWC 2015, we celebrate dozens of successful device launches across continents, adoption of Firefox OS beyond mobile, as well as growing interest and innovation around the only truly open mobile platform.

“Also, we are proud to report that three major chip vendors contribute to the Firefox OS ecosystem,” said Li Gong, Mozilla president.