Mozilla's Finances Are Sturdy As it Eyes the Mobile Future

Mozilla has just released its annual report, with a PDF available at the bottom of this page, and perhaps the most interesting aspect of the report is that Mozilla's search revenue climbed a very healthy 31 percent for the year. Many people don't realize that Mozilla gets most of its revenues from Google, as we've reported before, but even more may not realize that Mozilla also has deals with Microsoft, Yahoo and other search players. Mozilla's royalties, mostly from search deals, came to $161.9 million for 2011, up from the previous year's $123.2 million.

Google increased its contribution to Mozilla in a deal struck last year, after many speculated that Google might cut the support altogether. The fact is, Mozilla's placement of Google search in the FIrefox browser is lucrative for Google, and that could become extended as Mozilla's Firefox OS for smartphones rolls out.

Mozilla's overall revenue for 2011 was a healthy $163.5 million, which means the organization has flexibility as it starts to focus on its prospects on smartphones and in the mobile technology arena. 

Back in February, we reported on how Mozilla is in an alliance with Telefonica and Qualcomm to become a serious player in the smartphone arena with its own open mobiile operating system. Since then, it's become clear that the next frontier for Firefox is on smartphones.  You can find collected updates on Firefox OS here,  and it will surely have a pronounced impact on Mozilla's annual report next year.