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Over at OStatic yesterday, Sam Dean points to a study from Juniper Research that claims shipments of smartphones with open source operating systems will double by 2014. According to Jupiter, operating systems and available applications are among the top concerns when customers shop for smartphones, and that may give the open source community all the leverage it needs to get a foothold on the mobile device market.

Until recently, Palm, Microsoft, Apple, and Research In Motion were the four main players in the smartphone market, each with its own proprietary OS. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each appeal to different segments of the smartphone market.

When the first phone shipped with the open source Android operating system, it was hard to ignore the impact a customizable OS could have on the market, since many smartphone owners like to tweak their devices for their own unique needs. Developers were intrigued since designing third-party apps for an open source platform is far less confining than Apple or RIM’s program requirements.

Although T-Mobile is set to launch its second Android phone this month, Android phones aren’t exactly flying off the shelves, but holding 6.3 percent of a crowded market is pretty good for a device that’s so new to the market. Application development isn’t quite as prolific as hoped, but it’s continuing to gain ground on Apple. The clunky design of T-Mobile’s G1 has been significantly streamlined in the second-generation myTouch, however, so that may help sagging sales, as will as many as 18 additional open source smartphones expected to hit the market this year.

Juniper researchers say, “However, the the real key is not whether the OS is open source but whether it’s easy for a developer to design an application and make money from that effort. The combined changes of Apple’s open route to the market and LiMo, OHA, and Symbian’s open-source OS approach have generated a tidal wave-like effect which even the economic downturn has been unable to reverse.”

That means app developers and end users may drive a sharp upturn in the sales of open source smartphones. Developers may gravitate toward an easier application development environment and consumers give a lot of weight to which devices have the best apps when making buying decisions.

That said, I’m not entirely convinced the Android smartphone market will grow that explosively in the next five years. While Android may have the advantage of an open source community behind app development, the operating system itself is still relatively young, as is its application environment. Furthermore, consumers are having a tough time accepting Linux as a viable desktop option, so I don’t see it as a deciding factor in whether consumers from outside the open source community buy an Android phone over an iPhone.

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No one can deny they’ve been chummy. Google and Apple skip about Silicon Valley, hand-in-hand, developing new tech together that is perfectly suited for the Apple hardware it makes its way onto, despite having competing smartphone OS platforms.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to step in on the little dance going on between the two major players, citing suspicion of activity that violates anti-trust regulations. Even though Google and Apple are not technically one company, their cozy relationship could represent a monopoly that is unfair for their competition.

Specifically, the FTC takes issue with the close relationship between the boards of the two companies. Both boards share two directors, which, according to U.S. legislation, is a big no-no. Despite it being a technical violation, however, it often happens that directors do sit on multiple boards, and the FTC rarely steps in, in most cases. So what’s the difference? Basically, the severity of the offense seems to be measured in success. Since Google and Apple’s team-ups pose a threat to the ability of other companies to compete, their director-sharing raises red flags at the FTC.

What’s next for the two companies if the FTC’s investigation finds that there has been wrong-doing? Well, first of all, both Eric Schmidt and Arthur Levinson will have to resign from one or both boards, and fines could follow. Right now they both deny having done anything that could be considered an antitrust violation, with Schmidt claiming that he leaves the room any time Apple’s board is going to discuss cell phone strategy — one area where the two companies are definitely in competition with one another.