iPhone 5 release date has Google buying Verizon Droid vendor Motorola
Apple’s mobile strategy for 2011 is straightforward: pick a release date for the iOS 5 based iPhone 5 on Verizon and AT&T (and perhaps Sprint and T-Mobile) along with the iPod touch 5 and iPad 3. But mobile rival Google’s strategy for the rest of the year is suddenly more hazy, as the company just bought the mobile division of Motorola, the company which manufactures the Verizon Droid among other Android based phones. This changes the landscape both in terms of the role of the Droid even as Verizon has set its sights on the iPhone 5 as its flagship instead, and it puts the fate of Google’s own Nexus line of Android phones in question. But how does this all relate to someone who’s already decided the iPhone 5 will be their next smartphone? Indirectly, of course.Verizon hasn’t given up on selling the Droid altogether, but its former in-house flagship smartphone (a joint project with Motorola) was getting abused at the hands of AT&T’s iPhone to such an extent that Verizon cried uncle. After seeing Droid sales which were only about forty percent of that of the AT&T iPhone 4, Verizon decided that not only did it want the iPhone as its flagship instead, it didn’t even want to wait for the iPhone 5. As such, the Verizon iPhone 4 launched as a bridge earlier this year. And now Verizon says that its hopes for future growth are pinned on the iPhone 5, even going so far as to blame its lack of growth this quarter on the fact that the iPhone 5 hasn’t yet seen its release date. And yet now here comes Google itself buying the company which manufactures the Droid. In other words, even as Verizon is less interested in pushing the Droid than ever, Google is now set to push the Droid on its own. So even as Verizon gears up to push the iPhone 5 as if its future depends on it, get ready to watch Google/Motorola incongruously push the Droid on Verizon users. Oh, and as Google can make it all back from its Android-based mobile advertising network, expect the Droid to get really cheap or even free. This could cause Apple to have to seriously consider making the iPhone 5 less expensive than previous iPhones. See, told you this could relate back to the iPhone. But there’s more….
Even as the Android platform has collectively enjoyed great sales success, the paradox has been that each carrier’s pet Android model has suffered at the hands on the iPhone. Even as Verizon’s Droid failed to match iPhone 4 sales, the same has been playing out with Sprint and T-Mobile and their respective flagship Android models, leading to widespread speculation that one or both will have the iPhone 5 before the end of the year. But even amidst the collective overwhelming success of Android, and the middling success of each carrier-based model, one Android variant has routinely flopped: Google’s own in-house Nexus line of phones…
So what will Google do with the Nexus now that it’s got the Droid and other Motorola-based Android phones in its pocket? That remains to be seen. Google recently made a deal with AT&T to sell the Nexus phone, but that could go by the wayside if the Moto acquisition means the end of Google’s Nexus focus. Whereas up until now, Google’s strategy was to get the Android OS onto as many different hardware variants as possible from as many manufacturers as possible, the fact that Google now has the Motorola Android phones and tablets in house means that that strategy could change. Android makers HTC and Samsung are in the midst of getting destroyed in the legal system over their Android-based phones and tablets which Apple says borrow way to heavily from the iPhone and iPad. With those companies now suddenly on the outside of the Android hierarchy looking in, could they end up dropping their Android OS based devices altogether so as to make the legal crucification go away? After all, with Motorola’s Android products clearly going to be the ones which Google is now pushing, Samsung and HTC and others will now need to rethink their Android involvement in terms of cost vs benefit. The benefit is likely set to shrink, and the cost may end up being the financial solvency of the company.
This makes for the prospect of far fewer Android-based phones on the market in the future, if not by the time of the iPhone 5 release date then almost certainly by the time of the iPhone 6 next year. Third party licensees are always less likely to get involved when the licensor has their own powerful in-house competing brand, particularly if it turns out that phones like the Droid end up seeing favoritism in terms of promotion, software updates, carrier negotiations, and so on. Instead the iPhone 5, iPad 3, and Apple’s other iOS 5 based devices could be competing with a smaller number of more centrally-promoted Android devices. Which come to think of it, means the Android lineup will come closer to resembling Apple’s tightly focused iOS lineup going forward than in Android’s comparatively “wild west” days up until now. From an iPhone user’s perspective, at least you’ll only have to be barraged by ads for a fraction as many Android phones you have no intention of ever touching. From an Android user’s perspective, we’ll see what this all means.
Source - [ beatweek.com ]
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