Why Google’s 'Android' Is More about Advertising and Less about Business
According to special report from TelecomWeb, Google’s recently announced "Android" is "just another mobile Linux,"
rather than any real technical innovation; i.e., no more than a convenient way for the company to pursue its real
goal, which is to create an advertising delivery system it can control rather than innovating in telecommunications.
Earlier this month, Google unveiled its long-expected thrust into the mobile-phone market. The big surprise is that
it didn’t unveil a phone--the putative "Google Phone" many had been expecting. So far, Google only has come up with a
business plan that encompasses the consumer market, with no real value for enterprises. And Google’s plan doesn’t
depend on the technology behind Android. "a technology," says Stuart Zipper, senior editor at Telecomweb.con, "that’s
mainly "smoke and mirrors."
"The Google plan involves controlling Android development to make sure it provides access to, and supports, rich
advertising content, both static and video," says Zipper. "And critically, it depends on making sure Google is the
conduit for that advertising so it can reap the same golden profits it rakes in from advertising on its market-beating
search engine. There is little or nothing new Android brings to the table in terms of enterprise-communications needs
that can’t already be served by any of the many feature-phone operating systems already extant, including several
already based on Linux."
He continues, "That could well leave the enterprise market the stepchild in Google’s plans, with little to
recommend Android-powered phones. But the enterprise market is exactly where the most expensive 'smartphones' and
PDA/phones; i.e., the BlackBerries of the world, yield the highest revenues. And that enterprise market is ripe for
Linux, just as much as for any other operating platform, if there’s a standard programming interfaces (APIs) for
developers, and such projects do exist, though Google seems to be ignoring them and trying to shoulder everyone else
aside."
The report compares Google’s projected market share between the consumer and enterprise markets, and it finds a
significantly higher share on the consumer side.
"The bottom line is that we think, in the long run, enterprises are going to be most comfortable with smart
handheld devices that run an operating system that supports applications that meld seamlessly with their back
offices," Zipper concludes. "And Google has no strategy we can see to do that with Android."
© Copyright 2007 Skaistis Consulting