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From the manufacturers' point of view, virgin Android doesn't have anything to tie you to their brand. They're looking at the PC market, where Dell, HP, Lenovo

From the manufacturers' point of view, virgin Android doesn't have anything to tie you to their brand. They're looking at the PC market, where Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. all have the same interface, consumers have no brand loyalty, there's fierce competition on price, and margins are razor thin. That's arguably good for consumers - it keeps prices down, and we can easily mix computers from different OEMs. But the manufacturers would much rather be like Apple, with an exclusive interface attracting loyal fans who buy products with greater markup. They mostly suck at implementing it, but the potential rewards are so great that they can't resist trying.

netcan 14y ago
I don't see consumers developing any loyalty to the "exclusive interface." OTOH, I do see consumers developing loyalty to good hardware. SII users that will buy the SIII (or SIV). You carry a phone around, so what it looks and feels like physically is important.
rthomas6 14y ago
>From the manufacturers' point of view, virgin Android doesn't have anything to tie you to their brand. They're looking at the PC market, where Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. all have the same interface, consumers have no brand loyalty, there's fierce competition on price, and margins are razor thin. But is there anything actually useful in these software additions? It looks like it's just skins, and maybe some clock and weather widgets. Do people actually say, "I want to buy another HTC/Samsung phone because they have that widget."? Manufacturers actually do add their own software onto PCs as well, but it's all shit and bloatware. The closest to useful software from a hardware vendor that I've seen (outside of the exception of Apple) is software for individual components, like EVGA video cards or ASUS motherboards. It's like the hardware manufacturers usually don't think about the actual utility of the software they're putting on the PCs/phones, and the only point of it is some kind of brand differentiation. Which is absurd, when you think about it.
- takluyver 14y ago
  I agree - our tech would work better if OEMs stuck to making hardware, ISPs were dumb pipes, and so on. But they want users to relate to them, so they relentlessly build portals, toolbars, widgets, and anything that might make some sap think 'I want a Samsung' rather than 'I want an Android phone'. My phone comes with the 'Samsung Apps' store. I've never even accepted the Ts&Cs, but if even a few percent of users go there instead of to Google Play, it's probably viable for them to build it.

netcan 14y ago

I don't see consumers developing any loyalty to the "exclusive interface." OTOH, I do see consumers developing loyalty to good hardware. SII users that will buy the SIII (or SIV). You carry a phone around, so what it looks and feels like physically is important.

rthomas6 14y ago

>From the manufacturers' point of view, virgin Android doesn't have anything to tie you to their brand. They're looking at the PC market, where Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. all have the same interface, consumers have no brand loyalty, there's fierce competition on price, and margins are razor thin. But is there anything actually useful in these software additions? It looks like it's just skins, and maybe some clock and weather widgets. Do people actually say, "I want to buy another HTC/Samsung phone because they have that widget."? Manufacturers actually do add their own software onto PCs as well, but it's all shit and bloatware. The closest to useful software from a hardware vendor that I've seen (outside of the exception of Apple) is software for individual components, like EVGA video cards or ASUS motherboards. It's like the hardware manufacturers usually don't think about the actual utility of the software they're putting on the PCs/phones, and the only point of it is some kind of brand differentiation. Which is absurd, when you think about it.

takluyver 14y ago
I agree - our tech would work better if OEMs stuck to making hardware, ISPs were dumb pipes, and so on. But they want users to relate to them, so they relentlessly build portals, toolbars, widgets, and anything that might make some sap think 'I want a Samsung' rather than 'I want an Android phone'. My phone comes with the 'Samsung Apps' store. I've never even accepted the Ts&Cs, but if even a few percent of users go there instead of to Google Play, it's probably viable for them to build it.