Asymco on how Google’s lack of Android control affects their value chain

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Asymco on how Google’s lack of Android control affects their value chain

Google today is faced with the prospect that not only the devices (which sit on its OS) but also services and apps on top would choose to remain on old versions of Android. There is nothing to stop them from doing just that. Unlike Microsoft, Google does not enforce licensing terms for Android. It is at the mercy of the value chain.

via asymco.com

The article also points out that even if Google wanted to stop the above scenario, they do not have the license terms to permit it.

Tagged Android Google Software fragmentation

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over 1 year ago qka responded:

At some point, Google may decide to abandon, or at least reduce, the effort they are putting into updates. If the hardware companies aren't making the effort, why should Google? The existing versions make money for Google, in form of ad views. What's the incentive for Google to expend more money, if the new version of Android is not used, and does not contribute new sources of revenue to Google?

over 1 year ago Chris Brakebill responded:

Well I don't think Google stopping with updates would be good for the Android ecosystem. And what version they use doesn't really affect Google's revenue much. They all serve ads.

This problem is what really bothers me about Android. You really wish Google would have put in some licensing terms. I get open sourcing Android and all, but allowing these makers to do what they're doing is crippling Android as a platform. It's another reason why that whole iPhone vs. Android = Mac vs. PC business is silly. With Windows you could get all the updates when they were released. With Android you're at the mercy of the carriers and manufacturers.

It's just a terrible model. And right when we thought the iPhone was taking away some power over software from the carriers, Android seems to have really given it back

over 1 year ago Tom Reestman responded:

qka,

You could argue Google already has abandoned those releases. I don't think there's a lot of updates coming from them. But it's open source and the vendor will do what they need to tweak it for their particular phone. That's all they need, the vendor isn't interested in anything major.

barker1nine,

I agree. I've said before that people are crying for Google to "fix" this issue but they (Google) really has no incentive to do so. What do they care if the latest Dell is version 1.5? It run ads, right? And without 1.5 the device may never had made it to market, so for Google the choice is clear: old existing OS on the market is better than new OS not on the market.

over 1 year ago Chris Brakebill responded:

In the short term I don't think it hurts them. But in the long term its very concerning. It makes developing for Android a nightmare. Which is why the quality apps just aren't there.

I suppose maybe the huge number of people with Android phones in the future might make the devs stick with it and just target a low version of Android. But if the iPhone comes to more carriers, I wonder if so many people choose Android phones.

I'm really hoping Palm/HP has a strong hardware/software update with the WebOS in the near future. But I'm not optimistic about it. I think platforms with more top to bottom control (WebOS, Blackberry OS) have a much better chance of competing with iOS.

over 1 year ago Tom Reestman responded:

I agree it makes for a horrid app market, but I don't think Google cares. They pay lip service to apps while doing nothing to breed a successful environment for quality apps. I believe this is because they don't particularly like local apps, and want everything to remain on the web, whether web pages or web apps. Remember that Chrome OS (at least for now) is web-only, no local apps. That seems to be Google's long-term direction.

over 1 year ago Chris Brakebill responded:

Yeah I agree with that. Though I still don't see the Chrome OS as intended for touch screens. But that's a discussion for another time.

I think pushing mobile users to the web is a losing strategy, the success of Apple's app store is because people love apps. Native apps. Having a horrible app market is a recipe for losing customers. Because web apps aren't at all close to competing with native apps. Well....good apps. Web apps are just as good as most Android apps...

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