Android in itself is a successful mobile operating system and has a great install base. However, I will not call it successful in context of the article above.

Android in itself is a successful mobile operating system and has a great install base. However, I will not call it successful in context of the article above. Android as an operating system has not done anything to drive people to use Google's other (paid?) services - which is what you aim from a platform. You build your company's other products around it - like what Apple does by creating their own paid iOS apps to an extent. There have been numerous articles where people speculate if Chrome or Android is Google's future with Chrome coming out ahead all the time. The fact that vendors and manufacturers put in their own layers of UI and apps etc. on top of Android makes it Google's platform even less. Oh, and I have not touched Kindle Fire as yet! The fact there is in fact a debate about what should be the flagship platform (Chrome vs Android) for your company is not a good sign. Lastly, what's the deal with Android not having Chrome as it's browser?