The iPhone Won Google I/O
It may have seemed innocent enough. Google showcased two iPhones (and a Mac) on stage during the keynote at its largest developer conference of the year. The devices were used to demo various Google AI features working on popular Apple devices. Industry observers and analysts were quick to downplay Google’s decision to elevate Apple hardware at Google I/O. Google was said to be smart to highlight how devices that its customers were likely using worked with the company’s latest offerings. I view things quite differently. Going out of its way to show Apple hardware on stage at Google I/O was an unforced error on Google’s part that amounted to giving its own hardware ambitions a gut punch.
Hardware has always been a thorn in Google’s side. In the early years of the smartphone war, Google executives looked at hardware as a limiting factor for getting Android into as many hands and pockets as possible. The OEM model, depending on Samsung and others for hardware, was viewed as an acceptable answer by Google to have Android grab smartphone market share. This was especially true relative to Apple’s business model of controlling both hardware and software. For the first half of the 2010s, the iOS vs. Android war captivated Silicon Valley. Certain metrics such as the number of apps available on each platform were closely monitored for signs of momentum shifts.
As Apple’s product strategy for the iPhone progressed, Google began to see a problem with relying on the OEM model for Android.
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