Articles tagged Android.

The latest cell phone market share figures should have tablet makers quaking in fear of what Apple may do to them once iPad 3 arrives. Currently, Apple is sucking all the profits out of the market. Moreover, many of Apple's competitors have taken their best stab at iPad by flooding the channel, but with weak sell-though results (just ask Samsung, HP or RIM how tablets are working out).

The latest figures peg Apple's global tablet market share at 61.3%. Like with iPhone vs Android phones, we saw Android quickly race out ahead in deployment numbers, which are flattening out or starting to work back in Apple's favor. New numbers for the iPhone comes from BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, predicting up to 30 million iPhones could be sold in the September quarter. If iPhone sales are poised for this absolute explosion, what will halo effect be for iPads vs the rest of the pack?

It wasn't all that long ago when iOS was pretty much the standard mobile app development environment. But then along came Android, which took off like wildfire, as handset manufacturers were desperate for a challenger to iPhone. Android stormed the mobile castle, while RIM and Nokia have all but lowered the drawbridge in a series of missteps. As a result, iOS and Android have pretty much locked up the mobile development community, but there are more players in the offing.

The latest numbers by Charlie Wolf of Needham & Associates indicates that Android's market share is flattening out, and/or perhaps poised to fall over the coming quarters, due to increased competition from the likes of Apple and other forthcoming competition.  Wolf's assertions also fall in line with NPD's latest market share reports, adding further fuel to the fire that Android is getting the squeeze. 

Today, Google's Andy Rubin Tweeted that Android is seeing an average of 500,000 activations per day. First of all, what exactly does Google consider an activation? Is an Android activation an LG refrigerator with Android built-in for touch-screen control? Is an Android activation millions of China Mobile smart phones that have a core Android OS in them, but everything else Google stripped out of them?

According to net-security.org, Android malware has exploded 400% since the summer of 2010. Juniper Networks issued the report, which claims there is a shift from attacking the desktop market to the mobile space.

Key reasons cited for increased attacks on the mobile market are:

Part I can be seen here. Part II continues with market share assumptions and the fallacies they advance.

iOS vs Android: The Market Share War That Is

Analysts and tech media alike have one central theme correctly identified. Apple and Google are in a heated market–share war, but declaring any victor in today's battle would be pure folly. Yet Henry Blodget advances his position that Android is now the victor and iOS is dead. Blodget flashes around Nielsen's latest purchasing intent survey as proof positive. I also recall a survey claiming nearly 54% of all Verizon customers would turn in their Blackberry's and Android's for iPhone 4 on day one of it's launch.

Henry Blogdet's recently ran an article for Business Insider titled, IT'S OFFICIAL: Android Clobbering Everyone, iPhone Dead In The Water. To get a better idea of what he is talking about feel free to check out his column here. Am I going to rip into Henry's column from the get-go? Absolutely. I found his entire piece seriously troubling, as I had thought that only a Dvorak-like mind could come up with such antiquated material – I was wrong.

I'm not here to personally tear apart Henry, that's not my goal, as I enjoyed his latest column on the economy as it was quite refreshing. But whether Henry's mobile OS mindset comes from a financial or viable business perspective it makes no difference, his positions are completely indefensible. It actually took some time to decipher whether or not he was actually serious. Was this just another Paul Thurott link bait article, or did Henry really think he'd struck gold with this one? Sadly, I think it's the latter, which means I'm putting in the midnight oil to give Henry – and hopefully tens of thousands more – pause to reflect as to why this isn't the PC war of decades past, rather, it is the new war of post PC devices, and how the twixt of these twain couldn't be further apart. 

Tomorrow I'll be delivering one of a two-part series in which I will attempt to dissect Henry Blodget's analysis of Android vs iOS, and how he couldn't be more off base. Not to be cruel, but Henry thinks he's sliding into home plate with this one, when he's not even playing on the field. Really.

Henry's position on this topic, whether from a financial or viable business position are so indefensible, it took a while to decipher whether he was actually serious. Was this just another Paul Thurott link bait article, or did Henry really think he'd struck gold with this one? Sadly, I think it's the latter, which means I'm putting in the midnight oil to give Henry – and hopefully tens of thousands more – pause to reflect and think about how this isn't the PC war of decades past, rather, it's the new world of post PC devices, and how the twixt of these twain couldn't be further apart. 

Lack of Security within mobile OSes isn't anything new. Developers have seen the gaping holes for quite some time an the public is just starting to become aware. Back on April 5th the WSJ did some pretty impressive research on Pandora's invasive practices within the Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems, and both seem to be unable in stop applications from taking what they want out of the phone (at least for now).

With the latest iOS is tracking you story making national headlines, the general consumer seems to be catching on that their devices are peeking in on what they are doing, or at least they think they are (and their apps are likely doing even more privacy damage). The whole buzz around this privacy issue is eerily similar to that of "antenna-gate" and it's best Apple get in front of this as they did with the iPhone 4's attenuation story. It is critical Apple blows holes in mis-information and rumor before it becomes an assumed fact the Apple is stealing your every move from iOS devices.

In business there are times when opportunity knocks and you had better be ready to answer the door. Is your hair combed, your shirt tucked in, does your breath smell good? Because on the other side is royalty, and it's called "opportunity".

Google had such a knock on their door in 2009 when Apple decided to enter into a third year of exclusively with AT&T. On the other hand, Google was working with several handset makers across the other three major US carriers delivering the Android OS. While Android wasn't yet mature and its feature set somewhat lacking, Mr. Opportunity knocking at Google's door. But did Google answer?

IDC may have some impressive survey clout and reach, but when it comes to actually delivering decent reasoning behind their numbers, my sub-five-year-old daughter can draw better conclusions by consulting her Polly Pocket dolls.

IDC's latest report concludes that by 2015, the smartphone market share will look drastically different than today, with Apple falling well behind the pack. While I agree with IDC's assessment that the market will have shifted, their conclusions are way off.

This past Thursday, RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie spun his best story, explaining why RIM would be able to compete in what he called the "Superphone" market space. Balsille also tried to clarify why the RIM's financials were not in line with Wall Street expectations, presenting a rosy picture in just a few quarters from now.

Unfortunately for Mr. Balsillie, renaming smartphones as "Superphones" won't change the Blackberry makers problems. RIM's margins are shrinking, and the physical keyboard market is limited. Making matters worse, RIM's efforts to counter the iPhone with their touch-screen Storm lineup has been a complete failure. RIM's best days are behind them. To make this perfectly clear, 2011 is the beginning of the end for RIM.

Google's Android OS fragmenting into a death spiral may be overblown at times, but it certainly won't be overstated in the tablet arena - assuming of course, one of these years PC hardware vendors will be able to compete with Apple's iPad and its pricing.

Android's appearance in the tablet market is currently minimal, but as PC vendors are forced to get in the game due to shrinking netbook and notebook sales, Google is going to witness Pandora breaking out of her box, with no quick fix on how to remedy the situation. The issue I am speaking of is one that is (or soon will be) staring every Android tablet developer squarely in the face — Android's complete lack of attention to hardware vendor's screen resolution, aspect ratio and pixel density. Mind you, this is no trivial problem.

Yesterday the Nielsen Company reported that for the months of November 2010 to January 2011 Google's Android operating system’s market share has pulled ahead of Apple and RIM with 29% of the smartphone sales in the U.S.

As with most things, when you look behind the curtain there is more than meets the eye — and in this case we don't find a happy, content Android family, but one fighting for its smartphone life.

Anyone who has a smart phone or is thinking about a new smart phone knows about Apple's iPhone. It is the biggest name in the smart phone market.  When a new customer decides to buy a smartphone, they first decision to make is if they are going to get an iPhone, or look for another brand.

The biggest threat to Apple is losing their name recognition. They could lose it if another company were to dominate the mobile space (like Microsoft dominated the desktop starting with Windows 95). Lets take a look at the major competitors and see if they are capable of dominating of mobile operating system.

Now that Microsoft has successfully inked a deal with Nokia, MeeGo and Symbian are all but dead, leaving Nokia with a new master from Redmond, Washington. Both Nokia and Microsoft needed this deal regardless of the costs, as it delivers Nokia a partner in the OS world and Microsoft a level of credibility in the smart phone market place.

Microsoft's never been good at competing against opponents of equal weight. Rather, Microsoft's typical game is to bully their way into a market over time by outspending the competition. But this business model is expensive as seen in their entertainment division, and it failed with their Windows CE, Plays for Sure and HD-DVD initiatives. When Microsoft is standing toe-to-toe with other giants, we don't suggest placing your bets on Mr. Softie.

HP's OS Bowl 2011 is quite a work of creative fantasy. I must admit, I really didn't see Kramer, errrrr, Jon Rubinstein having the imagination to put together such a work of fiction, but there it is (based on Jon's bracket, I certainly hope he doesn't put good money down on any March Madness basketball tournament, because the way he think's he'll be in big trouble).

Now every good piece of fictional writing has some truth sprinkled in, and this is the case when Jon outlined the battle between Windows Phone 7 and RIM's Blackberry.

 While Google should be happy with Android's success so far, they are showing signs to the contrary. Since Google gives Android away for free, they can only make money on selling ads on the Android platform. They don't talk about how much they make from these ads either.

Even though Android is increasing in market share, that does not mean Google is making money on all that market share. Since Android is open source and device makers can remove Google from the devices, this could be a danger for Android's future development if Google can't make enough money.

 Apple cares little about market share, much more about profits. For companies like Microsoft and Intel, market share and profits go hand in hand. This is not true for Apple.

Apple competed with Microsoft not through market share, but through margins. They proved this when Steve Jobs came back and ended the licensing program for the Mac OS. Steve showed you can make a lot of money without dominant market share. They are now doing the same thing with Android.

Apple's app store is pulling away from the rest of the app stores as the place to introduce new applications to the world. Only if the application is successful, will it be ported to another platforms. The App Store not only makes it easy for users to find the best apps, it also gives developers a unified platform to build and sell their apps.

While Android begins to dominate the smart-phone market-share, it has no clear app store. Google Android Market is the official app store for Android, but there are as many app stores for Android as there are phones running it. Most device manufacturers have opened up stores for their own devices to increase their revenue. Amazon has created their own App Store for Android to compete with Google. With all these app stores, which one do you choose?

Many analysts and inside-the-beltway tech journalists believe Android is going to be the new Windows that dominates and controls the world as we know it - Don't count on it.

Android is exploding on eBook readers, tablets, phones, HDTV's and probably quite soon, refrigerators and hairdryers. So long as the buzz word "Android" is on a device, that's all that'll matters and Google seems more than fine with that approach. But will that make Android a winner? And what is a so-called "activation" anyway?...

It's no secret people move in packs. Whether populations migrate to new continents or flocking to malls on Black Friday, it makes no difference, the masses will follow each other over cliffs if the herd moves that way.

Technologies that win the day are not lost on human behavior either. VHS vs Betamax, Windows versus Mac OS or the air-popper vs the superior oven roasted Whirly-pop popcorn, the masses consistently find themselves settling for the lowest common denominator as "good enough" often defeats better or best.

Google’s Android has become one of the best selling mobile operating systems. One of the reasons why so many hardware manufacturers use Android is because it is an open source project. Open source projects allows users, including hardware makers, to use the software for free.

Having a free operating system for mobile devices is great for the hardware makers, but it does not earn Google any money. Building and updating Android is not free and Google needs to earn money to keep improving and developing it. So how does Google make money with Android?