Yes

by C.J. Neal

Created on: December 19, 2009

While the battle has just begun between Google's Android mobile software and the iPhone line of smart phones a review of past history may teach us how this war will play out.  What it really boils down too is which company has the talent and resources to be the most innovative along with how much cash are they willing to spend.  When comparing "Apples to Googles" it would naturally be a tough bet for anyone to make. Both of these corporate giants have risen to the top of their domains by developing technology that "does more better" but above all else creates fierce brand loyalty among its consumer base. 

One factor that will bridge the unit market share gap between the Android base and the iPhone is Open Source development.  Google has touted the fact that the Android operating system is based off of a Open Source license while the iPhone is not.  At face value that may not seem like much of a difference, but before you make up your mind that Android has no chance, take a moment to ponder on the  current clashes of dominance between Microsoft vs Linux, MySQL vs Oracle or even Microsoft Office vs Open Office.  Notably none of the open source companies I just listed have managed to take over the major players in their market but also none of them had the 150 billion dollar market capital that Google can back the Android brand behind. Many products based on Open Source have become so influential that they have forced the heavy hitters to change their game.  Android would have the power to do that with proper focus from Google and potentially overtake the competition.

In reality a smart phone is only as good as the applications that run on it.  In this field the iPhone has a strong lead with marketing. The iPhone has mastered the fine art of bringing in application developers into their fold. They have created such a buzz around iPhone development that everyone seems to be jumping into the fray.  It has almost become a required marketing strategy for business to create a iPhone App to help drive traffic and sales. Rival such as Microsoft have been wooed over to create search engine apps for the rival iPhone and almost every other week there is a story on CNN about a small company that just created the latest killer app and now sitting on a pile of cash. What is even more surprising about this is that development on the iPhone requires having a Mac computer as applications can not be developed on a Microsoft Windows or Linux based system. Keep in mind that as of 2008 Apple Macs only had around 8% market share.

This is where the Android has it greatest uphill climb.  While they have had success with the Google search engine along with their Google Docs, AdSense, AdWords, Blogger and host of other Internet portals, they have not made much headway into understanding how to build a marketplace to sell digital content.  The Android Marketplace (http://www.android.com/market/) is cumbersome at best and many developers who have decided to sell their applications through it have complained about the lack of support Google has provided along with growing pains with their Google Checkout System.

The Android mobile software has a chance of dethroning the iPhone but it will take time, effort, ingenuity, and a mountain of Google cash to make it happen.

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