About two weeks ago I browsed through the Android developer site and found a little YouTube clip, showing how Android activation numbers are increasing quickly, in a manner never seen before:
As you can see, Android is literally booming. Now the interesting thing to know would be, why is this happening?
Facts
I don’t say that Android is the best smartphone OS out there, but you cannot deny these facts:
- Android is the most “openminded” OS
- Android’s UI is customizable, the user is not simply forced to have the phone they payed for the way the manufacturer wants them to
- Android makes it very easy to new developers entering the market and developing new stuff (multiplattform SDK, low fees, best documentations and community support)
- Manufacturers are free to use Android, which offers the customer a high variety of handsets, which means you can satisfy people’s individual needs
- There is no other cloud synchronization that is as advanced as the one Android has. (Simply log in with your Google Account and your new device is like the old one, without the need of plugging it in a computer)
- Most of the applications in the market are free and no credit card is needed in order to use the market
- With no other smartphone, you are as free as with an Android phone. (E.g. you want to send an MP3 via bluetooth, you want to attach whatever to your email, you want to add music to your phone, this list is endless…)
These are some points that can help us to see, why Android is having this great success.
Conclusion
In summary I’d say that the big reason why Android is successful is because of its opensource core. This core gives the user every possible freedom and the market loves this. But you also have to see that the enormous market power Google has influenced Android’s success a lot.
Based on these thoughts, we can say that the future success of software lies in the combination of opensource and a big portion of marketing. This mix brings a community to life, that really allows big innovations.
These are all factors that make Android attractive from an advanced user’s point of view. Or for a developer.
The success in terms of market share is IMO determined by other factors: price and availability. People who can afford to pay for an iPhone and for the content they want (and who are not interested in doing crazy stuff with their phone) will hardly be tempted by an android phone. iOS has solved some of the issues mentioned above (e.g. syncing the phone, no need for computers), others don’t need to be solved (bluetooth is flawed, the pairing process has never worked right). But iOS is a pain in the ass for any developer. It might be worth the trouble, though: the paying customers use iOS, the cheap fucks Android.
In the end of the day it’s not about market share – it’s about profit. For the companies. And for the users it’s not about a brand – it’s about the usability for a product. People I know love to update iOS devices. They talk about it and it works – generally – very well. Others I know are afraid of updating their android devices. Noone knows which devices support which version of Android. The many available devices and configuration don’t make it easier for Android to improve usability, but harder. Pick up any iOS device and you know exactly where and how to find what.
(I am not a fanboy anymore. I think iPhones are uncool as everyone is carrying one. But I don’t see an alternative yet.)
Hey Philippe,
You are indeed very right about the huge mess Android has with its versions. On one hand because manufacturer see in the different Android versions a possibility to differentiate their products on the market, but on the other hand because the variety of Android devices is countless.
Anyways I have to say, that I never encountered any problem updating an Android device and always was very happy to update it
But I can absolutely understand if people you know had problem updating their Android devices, even though an “over-the-air” update is the most easy updating method there exist and a user could wish for…
What concerns being “afraid” of updates, more than once apple screwed up with updates on iOS devices (alarm clock not working, caller log not updating, etc…), but that’s ok because it’s almost impossible to release bug-free software. Now take that probability of bugs and power it to the number of Android devices, you’ll notice that in a rational comparison the guys in Mountain View are doing a way better job than the ones in Palo Alto. If you compare innovation, well you’ll have to notice that Palo Alto is not bringing out very much, but only copying features Android released years and years before them (Cloud Sync, Siri,…)
Personally I don’t think that people buy Android simply because they don’t have the money for an iOS device, what I think is that people buy Android because they realize how limited they actually are using an iOS device… Fact is Android has outnumbered iOS and this even though Apple was the first in class creating a revolutionary mobile device.
Don’t get me wrong I still think that iOS has a lot of advantages too. Like the intuitive user experience you were mentioning above, or the… well that’s about it.
I personally think it’s a good thing there is such a battle between Android and iOS, because the one taking a profit out of this is the consumer, but Apple should really try harder to innovate instead of simply adding “S”s to their devices…
I’m very interested on your point of view about this
You’re right – Apple has gotten a bit sloppy lately. The alarm clock issues are just plain stupid and shouldn’t have happened, if only because Apple really can control what is going on on a device.
It’s not easy do determine what makes people buy which device. It’s just guessing: But I don’t see average users mention limitations they experience with their Apple products. In fact I see it as a strength of Apple’s user interfaces that they don’t let you tweak everything you might want to. Most Android devices look like shit because ppl don’t have taste and don’t have a sense of typography and matching colors.
Which brings me to the lack of innovation. It’s very true – but that’s another thing that makes Apple strong. They have been using the same innovation technique over and over: They bring out limited devices and especially limited software and function on their mobile OS. Then they see what happens: What do competing OS do – what do users want on their jailbreaked phones? Whatever works, Apple uses for the next versions. They let other innovate for them. That is actually pretty smart. It doesn’t make Apple a great company and honestly – what has been said about Steve Jobs during the last weeks and month is just a bunch of bullshit. He is no saint and the the greatest inventor of our times, but he knew what to copy when and how to turn it into gold. That is a talent – but not one I’d be especially proud of.
On the other hand, Google innovates a bit too much for my taste. The bring out Wave and Buzz and whatnot – and cancel many of them afterwards. (Apple has done a similar thing with this social network on iTunes that just sucks, but they don’t do this very often.)
As said before: For the companies, it’s just profits that are interesting. Google and Apple both know how to rake them in – and I totally agree with you: It’s a good thing that there are three high level mobile OS competing against each other.
As to the iPhone 4s: I think the user experience with the iPhone 4 was so good that there wasn’t much you could change. They don’t have better screens yet, they don’t want to make it larger and don’t have any new features to include. So why not leave the design and improve the camera and the speed? The real innovation was to continue selling the iPhone 3GS dirt cheap. Apple needs to step up their market share in poorer countries. There are about 1.5 million iPhones in Switzerland. There aren’t many more you could sell. But think India and China. That’s where a lot of money is at…
Well, I’m happy we can agree on the part that apple does not innovate a lot and copies about everything. But I’m afraid we cannot agree on the rest…
Steve Jobs/Apple, does certainly not know how to turn stuff into gold, but they know pretty well how to sell anything (yes, anything even a piece of sh*t). This enormous manipulation power Apple has, makes sure people think they need something even if they don’t. But here’s the deal, someday smart people realize they’ve been manipulated and the stuff they bought actually does not fit their needs best and that’s the day they open their eyes and seek for individuality and customization.
The whole philosophy of limiting the user, because it’s best for him, is quite an arrogant one, because it implies that your user is stupid and would not be able to use such a feature anyways. I mean it’s a user’s decision if they want to be treated like idiots or not, fact is “I don’t want to be treated that way”. And honestly I don’t think most people do…
In my eyes there is no such thing as “too much innovation”, without innovations we would still be riding horses and cooking on open fire (which is actually a thing I like…).
Apple would be stupid starting to sell their stuff under their overpriced price in poor countries like china, etc… Because it would destroy the only market they have, the one of rich and spoiled people (+ the ones that have been manipulated)… Just the way all luxury brands do, where you don’t pay for quality like everyone claims, you pay for the brand and that people see you with it and nothing more.
But as I said, it’s a good thing these companies are competing for the market. And I really hope Apple will find somewhere innovation and bring out a really new and revolutionary device, just like the first iPhone was the time it came out.