Reality is that Android started before we even knew about the iPhone. It just matured after the iPhone launch, which makes the common guess that Google was out

Reality is that Android started before we even knew about the iPhone. It just matured after the iPhone launch, which makes the common guess that Google was out to outdo Apple here explainable, but not more true at that point. Apple profits from this image of course. Being the copycat tends to give you a slightly worse image by default, and I think Apple likes it that way. Nowadays the iPhone is a worthy competitor of course, and at this point outdoing the iPhone is a logical step/consequence.