Why Verizon's Going Android

Oct 6 2009, 11:20am CDT | by Robert Evans

The big news today is the just-announced partnership of Verizon Wireless and search giant Google. Both companies have agreed to work together to deliver a new Android smartphone (probably manufactured by HTC) in the near future. VZW has also stated its intent to release several new Android smartphones in the next few weeks. Big Red is devoting a lot of money and effort to this merger, which makes them the second major mobile player to let it all ride on Android.

Motorola was the first. Several months ago they made the decision to focus their smartphone development around the open source OS. Although none of their Android phones are out quite yet, both the Cliq and the Droid have attracted significant hype. The Droid (aka Sholes aka Tao) is widely expected to be the big smartphone of the holiday season. It's too early to declare Motorola safe yet, but it looks like the switch to Android has helped them to recover.

Verizon appears to be hoping for the same sort of Android-based redemption. They haven't had their best year ever, and Big Red certainly doesn't want to rely entirely on the iPhone (if they get it next year) to lift their flagging sales. That's the tact AT&T took, and it isn't going to treat them very well in the long run.

New manufacturers keep signing up to build Android smartphones, and more people convert to the OS every day. I doubt Android phones will ever be as trendy as the iPhone, but their sheer volume and variety could one day be enough to unseat the iPhone OS. There's clearly a lot of inertia behind Google's OS, and Verizon wants to take advantage of that.

So will going Android work for Verizon? I think so. They've made the right choice in choosing the Droid to be their inaugural Android smartphone. That should be good for a lot of holiday sales. A subsequent launch of several more Android phones, followed soon by their collaborative effort with Google, should be enough to cement Verizon's place as a premier Android carrier. Looks like T-Mobile's got some competition.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.