Google is slashing 20% of Moto Mobility: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/13/us-motorolamobility-jobs-idUSBRE87C07F20120813 .. which brings up the question: Will Google join Apple as a handset manufacturer?
The revenue and profit story of iOS and Android are all over the map, with Android clearly ahead in number of units, but with Google lagging in profits. The idea with Moto, I think, was to put Google in the same place as Apple: controlling a larger part of The Mobility Triangle: handset mfgr, OS provider, mobile carrier. Indeed, this triangle has made certain aspects of Android difficult, in particular stabilizing the OS and providing timely OS/firmware updates. When I bought my last phone, I decided to stick with iPhone, partially due to inertia, and partly due to "must have" apps that are still not on Android. But also partly because of the triangle: who's going to update the phone? .. who's in charge here?! My Verizon iPhone purchase was a bit weird. They kept saying that feature X or network Y was under Apple's control and Apple'd manage it. For example, I can't exchange my phone directly with Vzn. Instead I send it to Apple for a swap. And Apple was in complete control of Vzn's inventory. This is not to say one is better/worse as much as to marvel at the difference Apple has forced on the carriers. Apple is clearly > 66 2/3% of the triangle .. closer to 90%. So Google and MM seemed an attempt to have their model be similar, right? But hold it! They had a success disaster with Samsung. Samsung has such a winner on their hands that they caught everyone by surprise, even Google. I think Google should at least explore a much closer relationship with Samsung, in particular in standardizing the OS updates and HW APIs, something they wanted with Moto. In the mean time, Apple appears to be happy making more money while having a smaller percent of the OS and handset market. And the carriers are becoming less and less important in the equation entirely. So I think Apple should buy TMobile and have 100%, and Google has to decide how big a percent the'd like, and how to achieve it. Moto doesn't seem to have done the trick. And both A and G would like to simply marginalize the carriers completely .. maybe by wifi-default phones and in-house bluetooth to home phones. I think G has the edge here. Who'da thought!? -- Owen
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