Android Reception

Android received a lukewarm reaction when
it was unveiled in 2007. Although analysts
were impressed with the respected
technology companies that had partnered
with Google to form the Open Handset
Alliance, it was unclear whether mobile
phone manufacturers would be willing to
replace their existing operating systems with
Android. [150] The idea of an open-source,
Linux-based development platform sparked
interest, [151] but there were additional
worries about Android facing strong
competition from established players in the
smartphone market, such as Nokia and
Microsoft, and rival Linux mobile operating
systems that were in development.[152]
These established players were skeptical:
Nokia was quoted as saying "we don't see
this as a threat," [153] and a member of
Microsoft 's Windows Mobile team stated "I
don't understand the impact that they are
going to have." [153]
Since then Android has grown to become the
most widely used smartphone operating
system[22] and "one of the fastest mobile
experiences available." [154] Reviewers have
highlighted the open-source nature of the
operating system as one of its defining
strengths, allowing companies such as
Amazon ( Kindle Fire ), Barnes & Noble (Nook ),
Ouya, Baidu , and others to fork the software
and release hardware running their own
customised version of Android. As a result, it
has been described by technology website Ars
Technica as "practically the default operating
system for launching new hardware" for
companies without their own mobile
platforms. [22] This openness and flexibility is
also present at the level of the end user:
Android allows extensive customisation of
devices by their owners and apps are freely
available from non-Google app stores and
third party websites. These have been cited
as among the main advantages of Android
phones over others. [22][155]
Despite Android's popularity, including an
activation rate three times that of iOS, there
have been reports that Google has not been
able to leverage their other products and web
services successfully to turn Android into the
money maker that analysts had expected.
[156] The Verge suggested that Google is
losing control of Android due to the extensive
customization and proliferation of non-Google
apps and services – for instance the Amazon
Kindle Fire points users to the Amazon app
store that competes directly with the Google
Play store. Google SVP Andy Rubin , who was
replaced as head of the Android division in
March 2013, has been blamed for failing to
establish a lucrative partnership with cell
phone makers. The chief beneficiary of
Android has been Samsung , whose Galaxy
brand has surpassed that of Android in terms
of brand recognition since 2011. [157][158]
Meanwhile other Android manufacturers have
struggled since 2011, such as LG, HTC, and
Google's own Motorola Mobility (whose
partnership with Verizon Wireless to push the
"DROID" brand has faded since 2010).
Ironically, while Google directly earns nothing
from the sale of each Android device,
Microsoft and Apple have successfully sued to
extract patent royalty payments from Android
handset manufacturers.
Android has suffered from "fragmentation",
[159] a situation where the variety of Android
devices, in terms of both hardware variations
and differences in the software running on
them, makes the task of developing
applications that work consistently across the
ecosystem harder than rival platforms such
as iOS where hardware and software varies
less. For example, according to data from
OpenSignal in July 2013, there were 11,868
models of Android device, numerous
different screen sizes and eight Android OS
versions simultaneously in use, while the
large majority of iOS users have upgraded to
the latest iteration of that OS. [160] Critics
such as Apple Insider have asserted that
fragmentation via hardware and software
pushed Android's growth through large
volumes of low end, budget-priced devices
running older versions of Android. They
maintain this forces Android developers to
write for the "lowest common denominator"
to reach as many users as possible, who have
too little incentive to make use of the latest
hardware or software features only available
on a smaller percentage of devices. [161]
However, OpenSignal, who develops both
Android and iOS apps, concluded that
although fragmentation can make
development trickier, Android's wider global
reach also increases the potential reward.
[160]