Apple May Have Made a Tactical Error on Mobile Devices
February 7, 2013
Here’s more on the Google versus Apple rivalry. ReadWrite Mobile declares, “Apple Forced Google’s Hand on Android.” Journalist Matt Asay supplies some perspective on these giants’ battle for our business. His central argument is that Apple‘s insistence on rigid control of iPhone and iPad apps prodded Google to build Android, the biggest competitor to Apple’s mobile operating system.
Some suggest that Google’s habit of running its software on rival platforms is a “Trojan Horse of sorts.” Asay, however, posits that, had it not felt threatened by Apple, Google would have stayed out of the mobile hardware and mobile OS markets. The article asserts:
“If you’re Google, watching Apple systematically attempt to remove or replace services like YouTube, Maps, etc. and improve its own sync and other services, you’ve got to be worried that Apple could be one deal away from removing or deprecating Google search in mobile Safari and replacing it with its own technology, or even (gasp!) Microsoft’s Bing, which was rumored to be in the works back in 2010.”
Fast forward a few years, and Android and Android-enabled devices are alive and flourishing, providing consumers with many economical alternatives to the pricey iPhone. Krishnan Subramanian of Rishidot Research thinks that, absent this Google-provided option, smartphone adoption would have taken place at a much slower rate. Asay concludes:
“By seeking to holistically control the customer experience, Apple has simply ensured that the majority of the market will, in fact, get that experience … from Google. Because Google, despite being in the position to own the entire mobile experience, is also just as happy to run on platforms made by others. Consumers experience Google everywhere. With Apple, they can only experience it on Apple hardware.”
So, is Asay correct—did Apple unwittingly undermine its own lead in the crucial mobile space?
Cynthia Murrell, February 07, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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