The Myth of Android is Coming to an End

For a while there, Android seemed to be the miracle cure for struggling handset makers who couldn't quite compete on their own. Motorola was lifted out of their post-Razr doldrums by the Droid. Ericsson's sagging profits started to kip up once Android entered the mix, and now 60% of their smartphone sales come from the open-source OS. Things were even starting to look up for LG- and the launch of the new Optimus Tab and 2X only made things seem brighter.

But now it appears that the vibrant power of Android may have reached its limit. Earlier today came news that Android's growth in the US smartphone market has stalled- and even reversed a little. Google's OS is down 3% as of this last quarter, largely due to a surge in popularity for the iPhone.

While Verizon's iPhone wasn't quite the earth-shattering blockbuster some of us expected, it was big enough to expose just how bloated Android has gotten. "Good" Android devices are a fairly small subset of the total Android category. The explosion of the brand gave them name recognition and drew in curious fence-sitters...for a while. But Android user satisfaction still lags far behind iOS.

As it happens, quite a few customers were only waiting for the iPhone to break free from AT&T. And if the iPhone expands to other carriers, like T-Mobile and Sprint, we can expect to see further contraction in Android's market share.

 

 

I'm not sure where this leaves manufacturers- like LG- who have hedged a lot of their bets on Android's further expansion. Sure, there's Windows Phone 7. But it too has dipped lately.

Fighting Apple will now mean more than just throwing devices into the waiting arms of a starving, eager crowd. Most phones purchased in the US this last quarter were smartphones. We're rapidly reaching the peak of this trend. Soon, every phone will be a smartphone and wild expansion will give way to a slow, bitter slog for users.

Android needs a new look to win that fight. It needs polish, and a reputation for ease-of-use and reliability that can go up against iOS. Fragmentation brings down the value of that App Market. Tons of cheap, low-quality devices ruin user opinions of the OS. Even high-end phones, like the Galaxy S, are plagued by manufacturers with a sluggish approach to update support. Google and her partners need to focus on the experience of using Android now, before more buyers start to eye the iPhone.

 

Updates

Oppo shows off Finder, world's thinnest smartphone

Source: Electronista

Slimmest smartphone to date bound for Chinese market Chinese electronics manufacturer Oppo appears to be readying to release the Finder, a smartphone that is claimed to snag the title of World's Slimmest at ...
Full article at: Electronista  More like this  25 minutes ago

Handy Graph Shows Screen-to-Bezel Ratios Of Popular Android Handsets

Source: Phandroid

A handy “screen-to-body” graph has been making the rounds across a few tech sites which brought it back to my attention. I actually found the graph while cruising through the depths of Reddit the other night on my off-time and tho ...
Full article at: Phandroid  More like this  33 minutes ago

Nvidia anticipates 30 quad-core phones in 2012

Source: CNET

Details from the chipmaker indicate the second half of 2012 will be rife with fast smartphones. We should have dozens of quad-core Tegra 3 smartphones over the remainder of 2012. (Credit: Nvidia) Though we've see a decent selec ...
Full article at: CNET  More like this  42 minutes ago

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