So, from your three examples, we are left with Brew. We may add the iPhone software, even though Apple’s costs are quite opaque. Still, I would not count on mobile operating systems to make money.

And about the smart card countermeasures, they actually hava a value, even if you can’t monetize them directly. By raising the costs of entering the market (and getting their security certified), some vendors may actually succeed in keeping the cheapest options at bay, and this may allow them to sell at better prices.

Still, I would like to remind that I am not saying that operating systems have no value. They do, but it is hard to market. Google and Nokia can make money with Android and Symbian, but they will have to do more than just selling system software: they will need to build an ecosystem around their systems; if it thrives, there is an opportunity to get the value out of the operating system.