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Android Device Makers Are Mutinying, Says Insider

7 points by vellum 15y ago

dbcooper 15y ago
That article really should mention that Skyhook are pursuing legal action against Google. http://www.scribd.com/doc/37511005/Skyhook-v-Google-Complaint http://www.scribd.com/doc/37511005/Skyhook-v-Google-Complain...
danmaz74 15y ago
"The more success device makers have in creating successful products based on the OS, the more its market share will continue to explode. It's just that even the consumer might not realize that the devices they're using are running code that ultimately came from Google.": This is a very disingenuous comment. What makes smartphones really useful is the apps. Is every device maker going to create its own app store, like Amazon did? How much choice are consumers going to have on those stores? If the forks aren't fully compatible with each other, what good is it if the "market share" continue to explode?
nextparadigms 15y ago
They're free to follow their own path, just like other companies have tried with their own OS (webOS, QNX, Bada) but in the end it's the Android ecosystem that makes people come back. It's silly of companies to think that just because Apple did it that means they can do it, too. Apple has much more going for them than just a proprietary OS. Supporting WP7 was also a bad strategic move on the part of companies like HTC and Samsung, because they gained almost nothing from it, but they kept the flame alive for a year until Nokia was ready to take it all away from them. So instead of allowing their biggest phone manufacturer competitor in the market to fade away by not supporting WP7, they supported it, and with that they helped Nokia come back a bit (at least in terms of brand image), which also has Microsoft's full support (and they don't). The Amazon hype went up because a lot of Android users supported it, the tech media saw the attention it was getting and kept writing about it, too. But as soon as there are real Android tablets on the market for the same price, Amazon has nothing on Google's Android, considering most of their apps and services are already on Android. A Kindle Fire tablet would have no advantage over an Android one, once they are the same price.
- sarvinc 15y ago
  I disagree, I think not supporting other platforms would've been short sighted. Think music distribution and iTunes.

7 points by vellum 15y ago

That article really should mention that Skyhook are pursuing legal action against Google. http://www.scribd.com/doc/37511005/Skyhook-v-Google-Complaint http://www.scribd.com/doc/37511005/Skyhook-v-Google-Complain...

danmaz74 15y ago

"The more success device makers have in creating successful products based on the OS, the more its market share will continue to explode. It's just that even the consumer might not realize that the devices they're using are running code that ultimately came from Google.": This is a very disingenuous comment. What makes smartphones really useful is the apps. Is every device maker going to create its own app store, like Amazon did? How much choice are consumers going to have on those stores? If the forks aren't fully compatible with each other, what good is it if the "market share" continue to explode?

nextparadigms 15y ago

They're free to follow their own path, just like other companies have tried with their own OS (webOS, QNX, Bada) but in the end it's the Android ecosystem that makes people come back. It's silly of companies to think that just because Apple did it that means they can do it, too. Apple has much more going for them than just a proprietary OS. Supporting WP7 was also a bad strategic move on the part of companies like HTC and Samsung, because they gained almost nothing from it, but they kept the flame alive for a year until Nokia was ready to take it all away from them. So instead of allowing their biggest phone manufacturer competitor in the market to fade away by not supporting WP7, they supported it, and with that they helped Nokia come back a bit (at least in terms of brand image), which also has Microsoft's full support (and they don't). The Amazon hype went up because a lot of Android users supported it, the tech media saw the attention it was getting and kept writing about it, too. But as soon as there are real Android tablets on the market for the same price, Amazon has nothing on Google's Android, considering most of their apps and services are already on Android. A Kindle Fire tablet would have no advantage over an Android one, once they are the same price.

sarvinc 15y ago
I disagree, I think not supporting other platforms would've been short sighted. Think music distribution and iTunes.