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Leverage? They're basically the only game in town. Who else is going to write a modern mobile OS? Microsoft?
by gman83 5y ago
Leverage? They're basically the only game in town. Who else is going to write a modern mobile OS? Microsoft?
- pjmlp 5y agoOEMs can just carry on using the last Android fork before Fuchsia's switch.
- Iolaum 5y agoCan they? I don't think so. Putting aside their technical capability to do so, which is not a small issue, all consumer android phones must be certified by google to be able to install play services. If google mandates they need to use Fushia for it they will do so or get out the market.
- pjmlp 5y agoYes, Huawei and Amazon as examples of why Google doesn't matter.
- warning26 5y agoThey are perfect examples; no one outside of China wanted to buy Huawei devices once they became de-Googled, and Amazon's devices only sell well because they're so incredibly cheap. Remember that time Amazon tried to release a "premium" phone?
- blululu 5y agoIt is less leverage than you might think. Samsung once threatened to switch their Phones to Tizen, Huawei is building out Harmony OS and all the Chinese OEM’s make hard forks of Android for that market since Google Play Services are illegal in China. A big part of why you would use Android is the price (free) and convenience (already built). Once you need to pay for it or put in extra development cycles the choice is less clear. Google really can’t just bend OEMs to its Will like that.
- warning26 5y ago> Huawei is building out Harmony OS Ah yes, the Android reskin (see: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/harmonyos-hands-on-huaweis-android-killer-is-just-android/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/harmonyos-hands-on-h...) > Samsung once threatened to switch their Phones to Tizen An empty threat -- Samsung knows that no one would buy their phones based on Samsung specific software selling points like Bixby™