The collective wisdom of Twitter is often called upon to provide answers. Where should I visit when I go on holiday to such and such a place? Can anyone recommend a good…? Which product should I buy?
Recently, I’ve noticed a trend in such questions. Many people are coming to the end of a contract and want to get a new phone. The surprising thing, to me at least, is how often the question as to what they should get next is often put like this:
Should I get an iPhone or a Blackberry?
Of course, there are many people who are happy owners of both those devices. But, upon reading that question, I always want to answer in the same way:
Neither – buy an Android smartphone!
Obviously, there are those who disagree with me, but the point is not whether or not they should actually get an Android phone – the point is why are they not even considering it?
There seems to be a perception that, when it comes to smartphones, the battle is raging between Apple and RIM. If this were, in fact, the case then it would seem reasonable that people focus their choice on these devices. But it is quite simply not the case. Gartner recently published a report on Worldwide market share. Apple and RIM are not heading up the list. They are not even sitting in 2nd and 3rd place. In the list of the top companies in the smartphone industry and what share of the market they have; Apple and RIM sit in 3rd and 4th place respectively. Android sits on the top – and does so very comfortably indeed. In fact, if you combined the market share of both Apple and RIM, you would still not beat Android’s market share.
How is it possible that, despite such market dominance, Android is not even considered to be at the races? If it is even considered at all.
But it is not just in terms of sales that Android appears to have lost the PR war. It feels like every time a company announces a new app – it is always an iPhone app. Sometimes they do not even talk in terms of an iPhone app – it’s just an app. As if there were no other smartphone platform than iOS. If apps for another platform are even considered, then they will typically not appear for several months. There are, of course, exceptions, but this seems to be the norm.
Where is Google going wrong? Is it because both Apple and RIM are also building the hardware? That certainly could explain the issue. Perhaps the advertising suggests that the battle is between Apple, RIM, Samsung and others. Even if that were the case, however, Samsung is still well ahead of everyone – other than Nokia.
Maybe the problem is that both the Apple and RIM platforms are simply better than Android? Certainly there are those who suggest that most Android users are frustrated iPhone owners. There are bound to be some for whom that is true but, surely, even that is due to a false assumption that iOS is the dominant platform? There are certainly plenty of Android users who would argue that Android is the better platform. The market would certainly seem to give weight to their argument.
In terms of apps, it may well be the case that iPhone developers can make money more easily on that platform. If there are more apps, and companies produce apps for that platform first, then surely that would add to the image of a platform?
As long as Android keeps selling, however, you might argue that it does not matter. Except that, as an Android user, I have to wait for months before I get an app my iPhone “friends” have had for a while. If it ever appears on Android at all.
What can Google do to make it easer for developers to make money on Android? It seems there is a culture, not so prevalent on other platforms, which doesn’t like paying for apps. It is certainly easier on Android to block advertising – another source of developer revenue.
Perhaps, after all, we, the Android users, are the ones doing the most damage to our own platform?
