Android on Steroids
by John Paczkowski
Posted on May 11, 2009 at 10:51 AM PT
2009 is going to be a banner year for Google’s Android mobile operating system. Strategy Analytics estimates shipments of handsets running the OS will grow 900 percent this year as more vendors adopt it. At that rate, it will far outpace the growth of Apple’s iPhone, whose shipments the company expects to increase just 79 percent in 2009.
“Android has fast been winning healthy support among operators, vendors and developers,” said Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawston. “A relatively low-cost licensing model, its semi-open-source structure and Google’s support for cloud services have encouraged companies such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung, T Mobile, Vodafone and others to support the Android operating system. Android is now in a good position to become a top-tier player in smartphones over the next two to three years.”
If that comes it pass, it’s bad news for Palm (PALM) whose Pre handset and WebOS will be facing off against a powerful mobile triumvirate: Apple (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM) and Google (GOOG).
Comments
Not sure that I agree with the analysis.
Android’s success, at least in the immediate future, is bad news for Symbian and Microsoft; namely mobile OS platforms chasing system OEMS, as opposed to integrated hardware, software, service offerings like iPhone, Blackberry and Pre.
Along those lines, if interested in analysis of Android v. iPhone, here is a post that I wrote on the topic:
Why Openness May Not Be Best: Android versus iPhone
http://bit.ly/jih2x
Cheers,
Mark
Posted by Mark Sigal at May 11th, 2009 at 12:52 pmAndroid is really on steroids if it thinks it is going to usurp Palm, Apple and Blackberry. I suppose that is the illusion one gets from using Steroids. Nevertheless, IMHO this is far from being a zero sum game and if you have the right product you will survive. One also has to note consumers do not all have the same taste and needs, that is why the market for almost everything is pretty well diversified to meet the demands from the different tranches of society. IMHO I feel Palm, Apple and Blackberry are going to do very well without a prerequisite of a demise of one over the survival of the other. Those companies that have the DNA to evolve in a technological Natural Selection will survive regardless of the diverse species in their milieu.
Posted by darius arya at May 11th, 2009 at 2:06 pmBTW Mark, I thought your link was quite an apropos response to John’s Blog.
Posted by darius arya at May 11th, 2009 at 2:07 pm