Android faces tougher battle than expected against LiMO and WinMO
Published: 25 September, 2009
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Microsoft's strongest ally in this push has always been HTC, which is now dividing its favors with Android, while Palm and probably Motorola are backing away from Windows. Despite this, the software giant says 15 OEMs will launch the 30 models. LG has stated it will create a wide range of WinMo phones in the coming year, and other devices will come from HTC, Acer, Samsung, Toshiba (the upgraded TTG01), Sony Ericsson (the surprise Xperia X2) and Hewlett-Packard, according to market sources in Taiwan.
This may be a temporary boost for WinMo, whose long term prospects look bleak, but it increases the pressure on Android to make its own platform fully smartphone ready as soon as possible - especially before Intel Moblin gains mobile credibility, as it teams with Nokia Maemo and also sets its sights on Windows on both the PC and MID.
Unsurprisingly, given how new Android is compared to established mobile OSs, the open platform remains immature and most OEMs admit they are waiting for the full release 2 (at least) before they go full throttle. HTC has been the exception of course, but a lone flagwaver has not been enough to turn Android into an obvious success, despite its huge PR achievement. On the anniversary of the launch of the first Android phone, the T-Mobile/HTC G1, on September 23 2008, analysts said about 2m G1s have sold (Yankee Group figures). The Magic (MyTouch3G in the US) has since launched, and now the Hero is coming onstream, with other HTC models, plus Androids from Motorola, Samsung and others joining it.
"It's not the iPhone, but it's not bad for an open platform," said Yankee's Carl Howe in a recent interview. One problem has been failure to support certain key functions such as Microsoft Exchange sync, multitouch and enhanced video. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Interpret, told Techworld: "Android has done a credible showing but they're going to have to do an awful lot more. They've proved it as a concept. The question is, how much is Google really behind this project in the long term? We haven't heard all that much directly from Google." He said a more detailed roadmap was needed to build confidence in Android - the one on Google's web site is sketchy and rarely updated. Fragmentation is also an issue, as is the failure of Android developers, so far at least, to break new ground, rather than just emulating the iPhone.
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