Android is vulnerable because it is not a sticky solution. Most of Google’s apps are free, their services are free and accessible on other operating systems as well. Consumers who buy Android devices don’t have much other than the cost of the hardware sunk into the ecosystem. Google is a services company and they want their services on as many devices as possible, including non-Android devices. So even if as a consumer you are vested in Google’s services, you will be able to access these services(like Gmail) from any number of non-Android devices as well. For these reasons Android is not sticky.
I agree with Ben. From what I’ve seen, WebOS is a serious competitor in the market and while I don’t think it will overtake iOS, it will definitely erode Google’s market share.
Android Could be Vulnerable if HP Licenses WebOS | Techpinions
If people see a legitimate, polished alternative to Apple, that’s something that can sell. Apple has only ever pulled off major market domination once in the last 10 years, and that was for the iPod. Even if Apple never has less than 75% of the tablet market after a shakeout over the next few years, the competition will stills erve to push Apple forward.
I don’t think you understand Apple very well. It’s not out to dominate a market, it’s out to make the most profit out of that market. Like the PC segment, you know, they do dominate the above $1000.00 dollar personal computer market. They also dominate the highest profits in the smart phone market. So it doesn’t matter if you are the most popular, what matters is that people are ready to part from there hard earned money because you offer the best. That is what Apple has always stand for, quality that people are willing to pay for. Let the others take the bottom of the barrel customers. Just look how well that popular strategy worked out for Dell.
I’m not implying that Apple ever aimed for domination. The iPod wasn’t “beaten” for ten years, but that’s the only time that Apple accomplished such a feat in any market. And I don’t think Apple would have pushed as hard to improve the iPod had there not been a legion of wannabes nipping at Apple’s heels. Will this same scenario play out in the tablet space? It’s more likely in the tablet space than anywhere else because, due to the iPod and iPhone, not only is Apple ahead of everyone with their industrial design but they have an enormous content and application ecosystem in place that the iPad fits into perfectly. So with everyone and their dog trying to outdo Apple in the hardware space, Apple is pushed to excel and will certainly expand/improve their offerings based on cues from the competition. But without Apple’s ecosystem, no matter how compelling the hardware, there is simply no good reason for a consumer to choose a competitor over the iPad. And getting that ecosystem in place is going to be difficult if not impossible for most tablet makers, and fraught with peril if they depend on a 3rd party company or service to build an ecosystem for them.
HP is the only company that has the chance to make the whole widget, and compete with Apple (at least hypothetically) on a level playing field. To a lesser extent, RIM has the same chance, but they have nowhere near the pull of Apple or HP to line up content providers. Assuming RIM even wants to make a big consumer splash.
“.. And I don’t think Apple would have pushed as hard to improve the iPod had there not been a legion of wannabes nipping at Apple’s heels. ”
.
Do tell
Please list just a few of the legion of wannabes, cause I cannot think of one.
I wouldn’t describe it as a legion nor would I say that any were close enough to nip at the heels. But, there were Sony, Dell, iRiver, Archos, Creative, SanDisk, Philips and others. Some are still in the game. Others flames out after only a few models.
Zune, Sana, Rio, Zen, iRiver, Archos.
Visit almost any big-box electronics store and ask to see music players. They’ve been there all along.
How could I have forgotten the Zune and its “squirt” functionality?
As long as you didn’t get any on you, it was rather forgettable.
How do we know Apple is not out to dominate? We can only guess. Since everyone is guessing, no one has the right to say someone else does not understand Apple. If anything, the evidence is strongly supportive of Apple wanting to dominate. They diss the competition at every turn, and Tim Cook himself declared that they were “not conceding any market segment”.
Apple wants to dominate, IMO, but not at any cost. More than anything else, they believe in doing things a certain way. Sometimes, in some product segments, their way of doing things will lead to market domination (viz. iPod). Sometimes, it will lead to them being a niche player (viz. PCs).
I guess your bluff has been called, since a pretty good legion has been named.
” HP is the only company that has the chance to make the whole widget, and compete with Apple…”
I disagree with this. I’m a firm believer that the only company right now that has a chance to compete with Apple in mobile devices is Microsoft. Other than building the hardware themselves, they’re only the only company that has a good quality end-to-end ecosystem (with the current WP & up-coming Win8) in place that provides a really nice user experience. They have the mobile OS, the cloud services (consumer & business), the content distribution ecosystem, they lead in the living room with Xbox 360, they pretty much own the business pc space, plus they pour a lot of R&D into natural user interface (eg: Surface). If they can integrate all these pieces together to deliver a great user experience, they can definitely give Apple a run for their money.
webOS is a very nice OS & hope HP pulls it off in terms of making it successfull but I think right now is in a much stronger position to take on Android & iOS.