Who can possibly challenge Android and iOS?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 2:59AM As the months pass, it seems that Android and iOS are continuing to maintain their dominant positions in the smartphone sector and in many countries are starting to pull away even further. When we look at the competition, we see the following-
BlackBerry- customers and money is sadly falling out of the hands of RIM at a frightening rate and there seems to be no stopping the fall of the one mighty Canadian telecoms giant. BlackBerry 10 is probably the last hope in the ‘product’ category, but I wouldn’t bet against RIM repeating the mistakes of the past and failing to catch up with the iPhone and the high-end Samsung and HTC devices.
Windows Phones- the numbers of Lumias sold are conspicuous by their absence and it is difficult to judge just how well the platform is doing at this time. The low single-digit market share numbers, however, suggest that the platform has so far failed to capture the imaginations of the masses.
And who else? Well, there is Bada which is not really a smartphone platform and that’s about your lot. With so many companies hooking their mobile dreams on Android and the incredibly surge in iOS ownership, it really is difficult to see who can challenge the big two at this time. I am hopefully completely wrong on this point, but something tells me that this time next year we will be in the exact same position as we are now.
Reader Comments (6)
Well, in a way, Android challenges itself. Which skin will become dominant; HTC Sense, Samsung's TouchWiz (or whatever it's called) or Amazon's closed, Apple-like take?
Nothing in sight yet.
I don't think anyone could deny that Palm/Web OS could have if Palm and HP hadn't opted for the self-destructive route. The same could have been said about Microsoft except for their decision to abandon their years of legacy operation.
If you use the old linear video tape analogy as a model, then Apple iOS (like the Betamax, ironically a superior tape system) is doomed; eventually... But as Peter points out, Android is so flexible, you can make it look like anything anyway.
A new OS would have to offer something (really compelling) to wrench market-share from those two, something WP7 obviously hasn't managed.
I wouldn't discount Microsoft and WinPhone 7 just yet. With billions to spend and Nokia in their pocket, I expect a slow but inexorable creep of market share from Android to WinPhone in the next year.
Just like no one expected Microsoft to steal the game console market from Sony, I think Microsoft is in for the long haul and like xbox they will find a way to buy themselves into the market. It may take 4 or 5 generations, but unless something drops microsoft's revenue, they'll keep trying.
Android dominate "by force" together with iOS "by quality".
WP7 is late and will struggle that's for certain - it's nothing to do with good or bad - it's just that it's too late - even Nokia lost momentum and the top spot of sales.
RIM... well, is going after the PalmOS route, no doubt about it. They already lost too much credit and downfall is expected.
WebOS is coming in September. David Green said it all and I also agree that WebOS could have been a killer OS, but they messed things up. Let's wait a bit longer on this one.
So... baseline is... Android will keep increasing fast on every front with Apple also steadily increasing at a lower rate, but they will dominate the market.
The only thing I see is since Apple only releases one device at time, if that device struggles for some reason it will make Apple drop. On the other side, the fact of Google (Android) having so many brands manufacturing devices will allow Google to stay on top, even if some devices are badly made.
And soon will come Google Drive...
RIM's new management team is clearly there to turn the company around one way or another. Likely to change to software only company, but there not written off yet. I have witnessed bigger turnarounds.
Windows - the best is yet to come. Definitely a decent challenger and also very good too. Microsoft is not likely to fail, as it makes huge wads of cash from android handsets. Ironic that.
If Google uses Motorola to create a google handset, other manufacturers will switch to windows.
Another way to look at this, can anybody create a brand people want to buy. The majority of people buy brands not operating system.
Windows is the only one currently there that can challenge, unless RIM does a serious wake up - but even then I think it will remain a niche player mainly used for work.