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When are you seeing Amazon's Android ecosystem is gaining system? All they are doing is building their own apps on top of their implementation of Android. The r

When are you seeing Amazon's Android ecosystem is gaining system? All they are doing is building their own apps on top of their implementation of Android. The rest of the apps are just being ported over from normal Android.

sounds 9y ago
Well, it's gaining "steam," not "system," but I see it here: https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/blog/2018/with-homepod-apples-audio-ambitions-come-in-crystal-clear/ https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/blog/2018/with-homepod... day one pre-orders of HomePod were higher than all other smart speaker first day pre-orders, except Amazon’s Echo Dot
wlesieutre 9y ago
Amazon's phone might have flopped, but they've eaten the Android tablet market. Google tried to make a "pure" android tablet with the Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and Pixel C. The 7 was the only one of those with any success, and it's long gone. Tablets are either iPads, Surfaces, or Kindles now. I don't know what Android tablet would be in next place after the Kindle. If you count big phones with styluses, probably the Galaxy Note. I know the Samsung Galaxy Tab line exists but I've literally never seen one.
- sbov 9y ago
  I think at least part of the death of the Nexus 7 is because Google seemed to have no interest in refreshing it. I was looking to upgrade mine a while back and the only thing available was the same old tablet. Google has a weird relationship with consumer devices. They release stuff, then seemingly completely abandon it for years. I don't know what exactly their goal is with some of these devices, but if e.g. Microsoft did the same thing with the XBox, they would never be where they are now.
  - jjrh 9y ago
    > I don't know what exactly their goal is with some of these devices, I always assumed google's hardware stuff was basically a reference implementation. When traditional manufacturers 'get it' google steps aside.
    - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
      This was definitely meant to be the case in the Nexus era, but the Pixels are heavily marketed widely to consumers, and are given features that are withheld from OEMs for a while. Especially with their push to branded accessories like the Pixel Buds and the like, I'm pretty sure the Pixel line is supposed to be their iPhone, a mainstream, consumer-friendly brand.
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        With their update policy their are certainly not iPhone consumer-friendly like.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > Google has a weird relationship with consumer devices. They release stuff, then seemingly completely abandon it for years. I always get the impression that Google doesn't want to be in the consumer hardware market, they want to be making software and online services supporting consumer hardware. They participate in the hardware market to drive the market in the direction they want it to go, but really want third-party hardware partners to do the heavy lifting on consumer hardware. > I don't know what exactly their goal is with some of these devices, but if e.g. Microsoft did the same thing with the XBox, they would never be where they are now. Their goal seems to be to become what Microsoft was with the PC market, only in more markets and with a bit more active hand in steering the hardware markets.
  - chaostheory 9y ago
    > They release stuff, then seemingly completely abandon it for years. It's not just with devices. The most obvious place this happens is with IM services. Whether it's intentional or not, maintenance of existing products seems to be frowned upon within Google since promotions are mainly based on releasing new products.
  - zeveb 9y ago
    > I think at least part of the death of the Nexus 7 is because Google seemed to have no interest in refreshing it. Yup. It was the right size (can fit in a pant or suit pocket!), it did everything one could want, and it worked just fine. Of course Google killed it.
- georgeecollins 9y ago
  I think the challenge for Google is that they have a release culture more than a product line culture. So some group in the org is really proud of releasing, Android Wear, Pixel C, AR Kit, Chromecast, Daydream, etc. They get the kudos for doing it and move on to releasing something else. So Google has products that are sometimes really compelling. But they don't execute a road map for them and they languish.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Amazon's phone might have flopped, but they've eaten the Android tablet market. What? Kindle Fire initially did really well, and Amazon was briefly no. 1 in Android-ish tablets and no. 2 in tablets behind Apple, but they’ve lost marketshare and others (mostly Samsung) have gained, largely on the back of the official flavor, rather than AOSP-derived versions like Amazon's, of Android. > Tablets are either iPads, Surfaces, or Kindles now. This would be closer to true (and in order of sales from most to least) if you said “Galaxy” in place of Surface. > I don't know what Android tablet would be in next place after the Kindle. Samsung sells more, in total;Amazon may have the highest selling individual model of tablet powered by an Android or Android-derived OS, but they don't sell the most devices. > I know the Samsung Galaxy Tab line exists but I've literally never seen one. I've literally never seen a Kindle Fire, and I saw three Galaxy tablets before I left my house this morning. But that's just anecdote, the more relevant thing is marketshare reports, and while different reports have the figures differently (and often breaks out only by vendor and not OS, and makers like Samsung have more than one tablet OS since convertibles are usually counted), but consistently across reports Amazon is significantly behind Samsung in tablets, e.g.: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/06/apple-continues-to-dominant-the-tablet-market/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/06/apple-continues-to-dominan...
  - wlesieutre 9y ago
    >the more relevant thing is marketshare reports Looking at that IDC report, you'll note that Samsung is at -6.4% year over year for 2017. Amazon is at +30.0%. If you look just at Q4, Amazon was in second place behind Apple (with Samsung in third), at +50.3% year over year compared to Samsung's -13.0%. Those numbers do not indicate to me that Samsung is doing well in Android tablets. Granted the Samsung tablets are much more expensive than a Kindle Fire, so you'd expect it to be low, but the year over year downward trend is not impressive. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS43549518 https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS43549518 EDIT - also note that the Galaxy Tab S3 (I think this is the current version?) is still shipping Android 7. Apparently Android 8 support is in development, but "it's going to be a while." https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-s7-galaxy-a5-galaxy-tab-s3-android-8-0-oreo-update https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-s7-galaxy-a5-galaxy-ta... Bummer about Google's official tablets, they were better about software updates. The Pixel C (released at the end of 2015) got android 8 but will not get 9. Still, that was pretty good by Android standards. Re: Surfaces, I'm probably overestimating these because I see them in professional use. They're pretty expensive to get much consumer traction.
- amorphid 9y ago
  A few weeks ago, I wanted an Android tablet to play games. I shopped around for low end tablets, the the options all looked like the same tablets that were on the market 3 or 4 years ago. Many ran Androird 4.x,or 5.x. Didn't Android 5.x come out in 2014? I ended up buying one of these: https://www.simbans.com/tangotab.html https://www.simbans.com/tangotab.html. So far it's OK.
- product50 9y ago
  Yes - Amazon has done well in tablet space but that isn't because of Android. Most of the things that sell Amazon Fire are its really cheap price (it is probably a loss leader), seamless Amazon's Kindle and Content integrations (such as Prime as well as FreeTime). However, there are no Google Apps on it - no maps, no gmail, no Youtube etc. It is a really hamstrung experience if you have used their product. Android is much much bigger than Amazon tablet and to say Amazon is eating away at Android is a disingenuous statement.
- product50 9y ago
  Also, you can look at Tablet Marketshare here: https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held-by-tablet-vendors/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held... Granted Amazon is big but Android tablet marketshare as a whole (exclusing Amazon) is much bigger. I would use data to back your assertions vs. what I am observing (as that is subject to echo chamber and confirmation bias risks).
- pjmlp 9y ago
  > Amazon's phone might have flopped, but they've eaten the Android tablet market That is very country specific, I hardly see any Kindle that isn't a plain e-book reader around here. What I see on my train travels is people using iPads or Windows 10 tablets with detachable keyboards. Anecdote data, take it as you wish.

sounds 9y ago

Well, it's gaining "steam," not "system," but I see it here: https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/blog/2018/with-homepod-apples-audio-ambitions-come-in-crystal-clear/ https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/blog/2018/with-homepod... day one pre-orders of HomePod were higher than all other smart speaker first day pre-orders, except Amazon’s Echo Dot

wlesieutre 9y ago

Amazon's phone might have flopped, but they've eaten the Android tablet market. Google tried to make a "pure" android tablet with the Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and Pixel C. The 7 was the only one of those with any success, and it's long gone. Tablets are either iPads, Surfaces, or Kindles now. I don't know what Android tablet would be in next place after the Kindle. If you count big phones with styluses, probably the Galaxy Note. I know the Samsung Galaxy Tab line exists but I've literally never seen one.

sbov 9y ago
I think at least part of the death of the Nexus 7 is because Google seemed to have no interest in refreshing it. I was looking to upgrade mine a while back and the only thing available was the same old tablet. Google has a weird relationship with consumer devices. They release stuff, then seemingly completely abandon it for years. I don't know what exactly their goal is with some of these devices, but if e.g. Microsoft did the same thing with the XBox, they would never be where they are now.
- jjrh 9y ago
  > I don't know what exactly their goal is with some of these devices, I always assumed google's hardware stuff was basically a reference implementation. When traditional manufacturers 'get it' google steps aside.
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    This was definitely meant to be the case in the Nexus era, but the Pixels are heavily marketed widely to consumers, and are given features that are withheld from OEMs for a while. Especially with their push to branded accessories like the Pixel Buds and the like, I'm pretty sure the Pixel line is supposed to be their iPhone, a mainstream, consumer-friendly brand.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      With their update policy their are certainly not iPhone consumer-friendly like.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Google has a weird relationship with consumer devices. They release stuff, then seemingly completely abandon it for years. I always get the impression that Google doesn't want to be in the consumer hardware market, they want to be making software and online services supporting consumer hardware. They participate in the hardware market to drive the market in the direction they want it to go, but really want third-party hardware partners to do the heavy lifting on consumer hardware. > I don't know what exactly their goal is with some of these devices, but if e.g. Microsoft did the same thing with the XBox, they would never be where they are now. Their goal seems to be to become what Microsoft was with the PC market, only in more markets and with a bit more active hand in steering the hardware markets.
- chaostheory 9y ago
  > They release stuff, then seemingly completely abandon it for years. It's not just with devices. The most obvious place this happens is with IM services. Whether it's intentional or not, maintenance of existing products seems to be frowned upon within Google since promotions are mainly based on releasing new products.
- zeveb 9y ago
  > I think at least part of the death of the Nexus 7 is because Google seemed to have no interest in refreshing it. Yup. It was the right size (can fit in a pant or suit pocket!), it did everything one could want, and it worked just fine. Of course Google killed it.
georgeecollins 9y ago
I think the challenge for Google is that they have a release culture more than a product line culture. So some group in the org is really proud of releasing, Android Wear, Pixel C, AR Kit, Chromecast, Daydream, etc. They get the kudos for doing it and move on to releasing something else. So Google has products that are sometimes really compelling. But they don't execute a road map for them and they languish.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Amazon's phone might have flopped, but they've eaten the Android tablet market. What? Kindle Fire initially did really well, and Amazon was briefly no. 1 in Android-ish tablets and no. 2 in tablets behind Apple, but they’ve lost marketshare and others (mostly Samsung) have gained, largely on the back of the official flavor, rather than AOSP-derived versions like Amazon's, of Android. > Tablets are either iPads, Surfaces, or Kindles now. This would be closer to true (and in order of sales from most to least) if you said “Galaxy” in place of Surface. > I don't know what Android tablet would be in next place after the Kindle. Samsung sells more, in total;Amazon may have the highest selling individual model of tablet powered by an Android or Android-derived OS, but they don't sell the most devices. > I know the Samsung Galaxy Tab line exists but I've literally never seen one. I've literally never seen a Kindle Fire, and I saw three Galaxy tablets before I left my house this morning. But that's just anecdote, the more relevant thing is marketshare reports, and while different reports have the figures differently (and often breaks out only by vendor and not OS, and makers like Samsung have more than one tablet OS since convertibles are usually counted), but consistently across reports Amazon is significantly behind Samsung in tablets, e.g.: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/06/apple-continues-to-dominant-the-tablet-market/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/06/apple-continues-to-dominan...
- wlesieutre 9y ago
  >the more relevant thing is marketshare reports Looking at that IDC report, you'll note that Samsung is at -6.4% year over year for 2017. Amazon is at +30.0%. If you look just at Q4, Amazon was in second place behind Apple (with Samsung in third), at +50.3% year over year compared to Samsung's -13.0%. Those numbers do not indicate to me that Samsung is doing well in Android tablets. Granted the Samsung tablets are much more expensive than a Kindle Fire, so you'd expect it to be low, but the year over year downward trend is not impressive. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS43549518 https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS43549518 EDIT - also note that the Galaxy Tab S3 (I think this is the current version?) is still shipping Android 7. Apparently Android 8 support is in development, but "it's going to be a while." https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-s7-galaxy-a5-galaxy-tab-s3-android-8-0-oreo-update https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-s7-galaxy-a5-galaxy-ta... Bummer about Google's official tablets, they were better about software updates. The Pixel C (released at the end of 2015) got android 8 but will not get 9. Still, that was pretty good by Android standards. Re: Surfaces, I'm probably overestimating these because I see them in professional use. They're pretty expensive to get much consumer traction.
amorphid 9y ago
A few weeks ago, I wanted an Android tablet to play games. I shopped around for low end tablets, the the options all looked like the same tablets that were on the market 3 or 4 years ago. Many ran Androird 4.x,or 5.x. Didn't Android 5.x come out in 2014? I ended up buying one of these: https://www.simbans.com/tangotab.html https://www.simbans.com/tangotab.html. So far it's OK.
product50 9y ago
Yes - Amazon has done well in tablet space but that isn't because of Android. Most of the things that sell Amazon Fire are its really cheap price (it is probably a loss leader), seamless Amazon's Kindle and Content integrations (such as Prime as well as FreeTime). However, there are no Google Apps on it - no maps, no gmail, no Youtube etc. It is a really hamstrung experience if you have used their product. Android is much much bigger than Amazon tablet and to say Amazon is eating away at Android is a disingenuous statement.
product50 9y ago
Also, you can look at Tablet Marketshare here: https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held-by-tablet-vendors/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held... Granted Amazon is big but Android tablet marketshare as a whole (exclusing Amazon) is much bigger. I would use data to back your assertions vs. what I am observing (as that is subject to echo chamber and confirmation bias risks).
pjmlp 9y ago
> Amazon's phone might have flopped, but they've eaten the Android tablet market That is very country specific, I hardly see any Kindle that isn't a plain e-book reader around here. What I see on my train travels is people using iPads or Windows 10 tablets with detachable keyboards. Anecdote data, take it as you wish.