Is Google the new Apple?

[John Ranalletta]

Everbody thought AAPL was worth north of $320/sh; that is, until everybody thought is was worth less than $295 just minutes later.

 

 

MS' "Really" ad for the their new phone is entertaining. Will it get any traction?

 

Could this be the burr under Jobs' saddle today? Awesome penetration for such a short time in market.

 

 

..or this

 

 

Is RIMM destined for irrelevance?

 

[ghaverkamp]

Those particular charts aren't terribly meaningful -- at least, the middle and last ones. I couldn't even tell you what the middle one means or where the numbers come from. The bottom one's already out of date.

 

Android's already horribly fragmented, and it may well be that its penetration comes to match that of Symbian, Blackberry, etc. That is, deep penetration with little general joy in using the devices. Or, perhaps Google will take control and actually give it a unified future.

 

As for RIM, it's a big market. It would be silly to tag anyone as destined for irrelevance.

[bakerzdosen]

As for RIM, it's a big market. It would be silly to tag anyone as destined for irrelevance.

Except maybe Palm. (Hi Jamie. ) Yeah, I know, that big CEO-less company with bottomless pockets bought them, but still...

 

As to the rest of it... I agree with Greg. It's still early in the game, but there is a LOT of Android fragmentation. As was brought up today (yeah, by Steve Jobs), there are "more than a hundred different versions of Android software on 244 different handsets." Think about how difficult it is to develop and test for that. Even Microsoft realized they had to nip fragmentation in the bud, so they only allows like 5 HW variations with their new WinMo7.

 

Don't get me wrong: Android is a force to be reckoned with, but there is no certainty about the future at this point. Oracle could rip the guts out of Android with their Java suit. People could suddenly get nostalgic (I can't come up with another reason off the top of my head) and suddenly prefer the new Windows Mobile. And of course, Apple could release an LTE/CDMA phone on Verizon and then suddenly get millions of sales based on pent up demand. You never know.

 

As to the last outdated chart: Many of those apps are ports from the Apple Store. That rate will plateau soon. Whether it plateaus before or after passing Apple's total remains to be seen. Developers will follow the money. If they can make more money from Android, that number will grow.

[John Ranalletta]

..."more than a hundred different versions ... Think about how difficult it is to develop and test for that.

Wasn't that why Linux was destined to die. Now, enterprises (Walmart) are migrating to Linux.

[rob1100r]

..."more than a hundred different versions ... Think about how difficult it is to develop and test for that.

Wasn't that why Linux was destined to die. Now, enterprises (Walmart) are migrating to Linux.

 

Linux good! Put Ubuntu on most any machine and watch her go!

[AviP]

..."more than a hundred different versions ... Think about how difficult it is to develop and test for that.

Wasn't that why Linux was destined to die. Now, enterprises (Walmart) are migrating to Linux.

 

Linux good! Put Ubuntu on most any machine and watch her go!

So many corporations are moving to Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, commonly called LAMP. It's all freeware and makes sense. The in-house support has improved greatly and that adds to the confidence.

 

Android seems to be heading the same way. Yes there are numerous versions of it. But they are all customized for numerous phones on every mobile network, unlike one iPhone on one mobile network. How's that for competition. If Apple wants to compete, they will have to dump their exclusivity contract ASAP. Google is not the new Apple. Google is the new way of life. BTW, check out the new Sony TVs with embedded Google TV/Internet. The interface really looks slick compared to past attempts at combining TV and Internet. And yes, the apps for it are coming too.

 

I generally hate all Microsoft products because they are a monopolistic firm, similar to Apple. While Google seems to be monopolistic, it dishes out tons of freeware for showing a few ads. It's the lesser of the computer evils out there. I'm SOLD!

 

P.S. I think the stock is cheap at $600+. It still is one of the best sustainable growth engines out there even if the rate of growth is reducing.

[John Ranalletta]

That's closer to what I've read.

[ghaverkamp]

So many corporations are moving to Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, commonly called LAMP. It's all freeware and makes sense. The in-house support has improved greatly and that adds to the confidence.

 

Server-side, Linux has made great inroads. There's a good reason for that: UNIX was already horribly fragmented. (Though LAMP's hardly what brought it respect in corporations.)

 

Android seems to be heading the same way. Yes there are numerous versions of it. But they are all customized for numerous phones on every mobile network, unlike one iPhone on one mobile network. How's that for competition. If Apple wants to compete, they will have to dump their exclusivity contract ASAP. Google is not the new Apple. Google is the new way of life. BTW, check out the new Sony TVs with embedded Google TV/Internet. The interface really looks slick compared to past attempts at combining TV and Internet. And yes, the apps for it are coming too.

 

People say this all the time. Let's say Apple dumps AT&T today. Whose network are you going to take these newly freed iPhones to? (Hint: Bad -> Worse)

 

Meanwhile, Android leaves the user at the mercy of some of the least-customer centric companies anywhere: mobile phone makers and mobile network operators. Many (maybe most) Android phones are still stuck on non-current versions of the operating system, because their manufacturers and/or carriers are unwilling to update them. The time from release to update varies by carrier and phone (it took 6 months for Motorola/Verizon to get around to updating my Droid to Froyo.)

 

Frankly, Android is closer to heading the way of Linux on the desktop (i.e., non-player) than it is Linux on the server.

 

As for Google TV? Ho hum. I'd never buy (another) TV with such functionality built-in. It's too easy to be left in the dust. That leaves boxes like the $300 Logitech Revue, and I'm left wondering why I'd want a box that returns me to the days of IR blasters for channel changing and stuff.

 

I generally hate all Microsoft products because they are a monopolistic firm, similar to Apple. While Google seems to be monopolistic, it dishes out tons of freeware for showing a few ads. It's the lesser of the computer evils out there. I'm SOLD!

 

It's not "freeware". It comes at a price. All of the ads. And have you priced Android devices? Noticed how the comparable Android devices are no cheaper than iPhones?

 

None of which is to say Apple won't be harmed fiscally by the confusing morass of Android devices running around out there. The iPhone's no longer the only real choice if you just want to surf the web or check your email on your phone with a workable interface. Apple's done pretty well in recent times not being the commodity vendor.