It's just an instruction set architecture and it's still going to be made in large SoC fabs by Qualcomm-class companies that want to save a buck on ARM licensing. There's no way to win here.
Perhaps though, with RISC-V options there could be a real solid open source option (aka a Linux phone). It wouldn't have to be nearly as mature and polished as the duopoly, but at least something that allows people to participate in modern society (much like desktop linux is now).
There are already lots of options within the ARM instruction set. The problem is that Qualcomm makes the best modems and the best (non-Apple) processors and uses their wireless patents and chip lead to squash competition.
> Perhaps though, with RISC-V options there could be a real solid open source option (aka a Linux phone)
The issue isn't the ARM instruction set. We have Linux smartphones (beyond Android) that you can buy today. You can buy a PinePhone and run Ubuntu Touch, postmarketOS, Mobil, LuneOS, and more. You can buy a Librem or Volla Phone or Fairphone. If you want out of the duopoly of Apple and Google, there are devices you could have shipped to you today!
The problem isn't the ARM instruction set and getting RISC-V processors wouldn't make much of a difference for Linux (or FOSS in general) on smartphones. The ARM instruction set isn't what is keeping the tech giants in power.
Right, it’s the fact that (I’m assuming) simple stuff like checking my email is a nightmare on any phone that isn’t iPhone or Android. I know I could probably switch email clients, but is that worth it?
And all the other apps that either suck on the web or don’t even exist.
It’s such a chicken and egg problem that even Microsoft couldn’t crack it, despite making a perfectly good OS and hardware. By the time you are two years late to the party it’s already over.
I kind of want to modify that old adage to now read "cheap, open, documented. You can pick two."