Firefox OS showed some early promise, attracting a number of business partners, but one year ago, Mozilla killed the Firefox OS phone project and pared back to just connected devices. The connected devices work already was a remnant of a more ambitious project, Firefox OS, which Mozilla hoped would offer an alternative to Google's Android and Apple's iOS to power phones. Its biggest success was inclusion in Panasonic's 4K TV, but in September, Jaaksi said on a mailing list that Mozilla concluded " Firefox OS TV was a project to be run by our commercial partner and not a project to be led by Mozilla." Software from Mozilla's connected device team, which was based on the same core technology as Firefox, never caught on widely. Firefox's share of usage in January dropped to 14.9 percent on personal computers and 6.8 percent on all devices, according to web analytics firm StatCounter. Firefox is virtually absent from phones and tablets, which account for more and more web activity worldwide. Mozilla's great triumph was pushing back against Microsoft's dominant but stagnant Internet Explorer browser a decade ago, but it has struggled over the last few years. Even if you don't use Mozilla's software, anyone who's used the web has benefited from Mozilla's role developing new technologies and keeping the browser business competitive. Unlike what motivates most tech companies, Mozilla's agenda isn't to make money but instead to push for an improvement in the web experience. Jaaksi didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Its shrinking influence comes at a time when more people are browsing the internet on their phones - an area where Firefox is particularly weak.Īri Jaaksi, head of Mozilla's connected devices effort Mozilla tried to take the web technology powering Firefox to other devices, but struggled to get acceptance. Once a dominant choice for internet browsing, it has long been overshadowed by Google's Chrome. The layoffs greatly curtail the nonprofit organization's ability to make Firefox relevant again. "We have shifted our internal approach to the internet-of-things opportunity," Mozilla said in a statement, "to step back from a focus on launching and scaling commercial products to one focused on research and advanced development, dissolving our connected devices initiative and incorporating our internet-of-things explorations into an increased focus on emerging technologies." Mozilla confirmed the cuts to the gadget group Thursday. Mozilla had about 1,000 employees at the end of 2016. Ari Jaaksi, the senior vice president in charge of the effort, is among those who are leaving. The nonprofit organization told employees Thursday that it is eliminating the team tasked with bringing Firefox to connected devices, according to people familiar with the situation. So much for Mozilla's quest to bring Firefox to new and different places.
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