In the United States and Europe, the talk is all about the iOS and the Android OS. But the news that China’s Alibaba is unveiling a smartphone and operating system shows that the focus for service providers needs to continue to extend if they want to succeed in the global market.

According to the Times of India, the smartphones are, expected to cost between 2,000 yuan ($309) and 3,000 yuan, will offer a number of “cloud applications” along with pre-installed mapping and instant messaging software.

The Times of India also cited smartphones sales in China grew to 19.91 million units in the first quarter of 2011, up 4.8 percent from the previous quarter, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.

Services Angle

The China market’s growth is seen from the network level all the way to the user. The number of smartphone is one barometer but you can also see in the news from Alcatel-Lucent, for instance, which is enhancing efficiency and reach of China Unicom’s 3G network in more than ten provinces to address the growing demand for mobile broadband coverage in China.

That points to a growing demand for the services that the cloud provides. What will come of this is another boom in application development. That’s the race to watch. Where the applications get developed is where the bounty goes. The winners will be the smart services providers who get into the market early.