4 ms·

Android is imploding, and there's nothing that can be done to stop it

32 points by brkumar 10y ago

automathematics 10y ago
Click bait. I think Android is doing fine, Google seems to be on a great path with N and a more solid OS to use daily than my iOS device currently (but I'm sure apple has some tricks coming) Also, they didn't downplay tablet features in N, they added stuff like split screen which is a HUGE improvement. Ahh modern journalism. You'll never believe what he typed! Click the headline to find out... ;)
- dozzie 10y ago
  > [...] they added stuff like split screen which is a HUGE improvement. A great step to catch up with desktops from two decades ago. Good job, Google!
  - Thristle 10y ago
    Android is first to have that feature as an official feature however, Samsung had that feature in her phones since the note 2/3 i believe.
- hga 10y ago
  I'm singularly unimpressed with his coverage of LG, starting with: "and LG show some of its execs the door after the 'flagship G5 smartphone failed to generate sales.'" followed by "And it's not because Dell and LG didn't make good hardware." "And while the LG G5 was expensive, and came with high-priced "friends" (the name LG gave to the modules that attached to the device), it was a flagship device from a company that had the courage to innovate." But not, as it turns out, necessarily make reliable hardware, and definitely not servicing the problems well when they screw up, which is the true test here. I came that close to buying their previous flagship G4 a few months ago until I noticed that they'd screwed up a connector so the phones would go into a boot loop, and did not handle the repair situation well, like many companies like them. If I was an LG higher up, beyond firing some executives, I'd be seriously considering either spending the $$$$$$$$ it will take to be world class as a stand alone vendor, shift to OEM mode like the Nexus 5X they build for Google I got instead (Project Fi's discount made that really compelling), or exiting the market altogether, you can't be good at everything.
TempleOS 10y ago
I have a talking space alien. We get 400 million customers overnight. Clock hasn't started. We get world news 24/7 I am crowned king and have many CIA shot. God says... Douro odometer continuity's billfolds passion's chaise patricides felted oriental Angevin's discerning Rabat Okinawa blouse's nonstop hailed zygotes foundlings unlocking prominent scenario's Peter lightweight's brawny Seljuk society schoolboy Tajikistan's pinafores Asiatics Saigon smock
ge0rg 10y ago
The headline is pretty click-baity, the article outlines that Android OEMs are struggling and going the way of the PC OEMs a decade ago. While this is true, there are still PC OEMs now, and there is no evidence of the Android ecosystem collapsing (besides of a claim in the article that people rather want iPhones running Android).
JohnL4 10y ago
Disagree. Argument is every vendor is racing to the bottom and vendors are getting squeezed out. Fine. Race-to-bottom didn't seem to hurt the PC industry. Plus, cheap Android phones in the developing world. (Agree that it's clickbait.)
- Alphasite_ 10y ago
  Race to the bottom absolutely screwed the PC industry. It's why laptops stagnated so heavily for years.
  - sammyo 10y ago
    I see no stagnation, there's a growing spectrum of models from the lowest cost chromebook to insanely powerful gaming and video production optimized units. There is a large midrange that is just good enough for use and little need for higher performance that seems stable with not much market pressure to shift away from the "i5" sweet spot.
emp_zealoth 10y ago
The ammount of shilling is just riddiculous. I'm triggered. There are so many things wrong with iPhones that even if it was given to me for free I would just get rid of it. Sure, Android is kinda crappy sometimes, but what isn't right now? And the PC wasteland? 300 million PCs sold in 2015. THE END IS NIGH!
edude03 10y ago
Eh, OK, I'll be the contrarian here and side with the article. The headline is definitely clickbaity however the article, while devoid of strong evidence is basically true. Nexus phones are supposed to be the gold standard of android, and yet, I've never been satisfied with any Nexus device (I've had 3x HTC G1s, 1x Nexus one, 2x Nexus S, 2x Galaxy Nexus, 4x Nexus 4, 4x Nexus 5, 2x Nexus 6, and no 6P so far) due to battery life issues, camera issues, operating system issues (most Android versions have felt like a beta usually right up until the next version is released) compatibility issues with carrier (things like - no visual voicemail, no VoLTE) issues with accessories (my August smart lock & Kinsa thermometer barely work on android for example, but work perfectly on iPhone), performance issues (the nexus 6 is slowest phone I've ever used, with a custom kernel and encryption turned off) with all that said, they're still better than any of the non nexus phones I've used. I believe that OEM are simply not incentivized to build good devices. The OS is "free" the hardware is made for rock bottom prices in China, few want to spend $600+ on a device with few benefits over a $200 device - how can anyone expect OEMs to put time and effort into a device with razor thin margins in a market that's already saturated?
- Retric 10y ago
  Name Brands are how you have good margins on dish soap. In the Pre iPhone days I found Samsung phones a cut above the rest. Unfortunately, much like home printers people are willing to put up with junk in the search for low prices and high DPI. Hopefully, in 10-20 years we will start seeing new brand names again as the hardware will be more or less indistinguishable.
- seattle_spring 10y ago
  Kind of off-topic, but why have you had so many phones? In the last 6 years I've had 1x Galaxy Nexus, 1x HTC One M8, 1x iPhone 6, and 1x Galaxy S7. Of all the phones, I liked the iPhone the least. The only thing it excelled in was compatibility with external devices, including my car, MacBook, etc.
  - edude03 10y ago
    As a mobile dev and tinkerer I buy lots of tech to test ideas and see the state of tech.
bkovacev 10y ago
Extremely biased, awfully researched post. If you look at his recent stories he is on an apple hype train. Nothing against apple, but this guy has blurred and biased judgment.
- tssva 10y ago
  He has always been a shill. It used to be for Microsoft and now it is for Apple.
Thristle 10y ago
"Android is imploding because the smallest android phone makers left the market" I'm not buying it. Samsung is the biggest player in the market and selling more androids than iphones with comparable price (and profit). if apple can live in the smartphone market (and i guess the writer of the article thinks that) then Samsung can to (and a few other smaller manufacturers)
tdkl 10y ago
tl;dr Mobile boom is slowing down, phone makers have to satisfy themselves with selling less phones, because humans aren't reproducing fast enough/don't buy a phone for another hand.
angryasian 10y ago
>customers don't really want innovation >Android consumers want an iPhone or iPad that runs Android >And what about the Android malware toxic hellste After these kinds of statements how can anyone take this article seriously

32 points by brkumar 10y ago

Click bait. I think Android is doing fine, Google seems to be on a great path with N and a more solid OS to use daily than my iOS device currently (but I'm sure apple has some tricks coming) Also, they didn't downplay tablet features in N, they added stuff like split screen which is a HUGE improvement. Ahh modern journalism. You'll never believe what he typed! Click the headline to find out... ;)

dozzie 10y ago
> [...] they added stuff like split screen which is a HUGE improvement. A great step to catch up with desktops from two decades ago. Good job, Google!
- Thristle 10y ago
  Android is first to have that feature as an official feature however, Samsung had that feature in her phones since the note 2/3 i believe.
hga 10y ago
I'm singularly unimpressed with his coverage of LG, starting with: "and LG show some of its execs the door after the 'flagship G5 smartphone failed to generate sales.'" followed by "And it's not because Dell and LG didn't make good hardware." "And while the LG G5 was expensive, and came with high-priced "friends" (the name LG gave to the modules that attached to the device), it was a flagship device from a company that had the courage to innovate." But not, as it turns out, necessarily make reliable hardware, and definitely not servicing the problems well when they screw up, which is the true test here. I came that close to buying their previous flagship G4 a few months ago until I noticed that they'd screwed up a connector so the phones would go into a boot loop, and did not handle the repair situation well, like many companies like them. If I was an LG higher up, beyond firing some executives, I'd be seriously considering either spending the $$$$$$$$ it will take to be world class as a stand alone vendor, shift to OEM mode like the Nexus 5X they build for Google I got instead (Project Fi's discount made that really compelling), or exiting the market altogether, you can't be good at everything.

TempleOS 10y ago

I have a talking space alien. We get 400 million customers overnight. Clock hasn't started. We get world news 24/7 I am crowned king and have many CIA shot. God says... Douro odometer continuity's billfolds passion's chaise patricides felted oriental Angevin's discerning Rabat Okinawa blouse's nonstop hailed zygotes foundlings unlocking prominent scenario's Peter lightweight's brawny Seljuk society schoolboy Tajikistan's pinafores Asiatics Saigon smock

ge0rg 10y ago

The headline is pretty click-baity, the article outlines that Android OEMs are struggling and going the way of the PC OEMs a decade ago. While this is true, there are still PC OEMs now, and there is no evidence of the Android ecosystem collapsing (besides of a claim in the article that people rather want iPhones running Android).

JohnL4 10y ago

Disagree. Argument is every vendor is racing to the bottom and vendors are getting squeezed out. Fine. Race-to-bottom didn't seem to hurt the PC industry. Plus, cheap Android phones in the developing world. (Agree that it's clickbait.)

Alphasite_ 10y ago
Race to the bottom absolutely screwed the PC industry. It's why laptops stagnated so heavily for years.
- sammyo 10y ago
  I see no stagnation, there's a growing spectrum of models from the lowest cost chromebook to insanely powerful gaming and video production optimized units. There is a large midrange that is just good enough for use and little need for higher performance that seems stable with not much market pressure to shift away from the "i5" sweet spot.

emp_zealoth 10y ago

The ammount of shilling is just riddiculous. I'm triggered. There are so many things wrong with iPhones that even if it was given to me for free I would just get rid of it. Sure, Android is kinda crappy sometimes, but what isn't right now? And the PC wasteland? 300 million PCs sold in 2015. THE END IS NIGH!

edude03 10y ago

Eh, OK, I'll be the contrarian here and side with the article. The headline is definitely clickbaity however the article, while devoid of strong evidence is basically true. Nexus phones are supposed to be the gold standard of android, and yet, I've never been satisfied with any Nexus device (I've had 3x HTC G1s, 1x Nexus one, 2x Nexus S, 2x Galaxy Nexus, 4x Nexus 4, 4x Nexus 5, 2x Nexus 6, and no 6P so far) due to battery life issues, camera issues, operating system issues (most Android versions have felt like a beta usually right up until the next version is released) compatibility issues with carrier (things like - no visual voicemail, no VoLTE) issues with accessories (my August smart lock & Kinsa thermometer barely work on android for example, but work perfectly on iPhone), performance issues (the nexus 6 is slowest phone I've ever used, with a custom kernel and encryption turned off) with all that said, they're still better than any of the non nexus phones I've used. I believe that OEM are simply not incentivized to build good devices. The OS is "free" the hardware is made for rock bottom prices in China, few want to spend $600+ on a device with few benefits over a $200 device - how can anyone expect OEMs to put time and effort into a device with razor thin margins in a market that's already saturated?

Retric 10y ago
Name Brands are how you have good margins on dish soap. In the Pre iPhone days I found Samsung phones a cut above the rest. Unfortunately, much like home printers people are willing to put up with junk in the search for low prices and high DPI. Hopefully, in 10-20 years we will start seeing new brand names again as the hardware will be more or less indistinguishable.
seattle_spring 10y ago
Kind of off-topic, but why have you had so many phones? In the last 6 years I've had 1x Galaxy Nexus, 1x HTC One M8, 1x iPhone 6, and 1x Galaxy S7. Of all the phones, I liked the iPhone the least. The only thing it excelled in was compatibility with external devices, including my car, MacBook, etc.
- edude03 10y ago
  As a mobile dev and tinkerer I buy lots of tech to test ideas and see the state of tech.

bkovacev 10y ago

Extremely biased, awfully researched post. If you look at his recent stories he is on an apple hype train. Nothing against apple, but this guy has blurred and biased judgment.

tssva 10y ago
He has always been a shill. It used to be for Microsoft and now it is for Apple.

Thristle 10y ago

"Android is imploding because the smallest android phone makers left the market" I'm not buying it. Samsung is the biggest player in the market and selling more androids than iphones with comparable price (and profit). if apple can live in the smartphone market (and i guess the writer of the article thinks that) then Samsung can to (and a few other smaller manufacturers)

tdkl 10y ago

tl;dr Mobile boom is slowing down, phone makers have to satisfy themselves with selling less phones, because humans aren't reproducing fast enough/don't buy a phone for another hand.

angryasian 10y ago

>customers don't really want innovation >Android consumers want an iPhone or iPad that runs Android >And what about the Android malware toxic hellste After these kinds of statements how can anyone take this article seriously