Apple vs. Google

A year ago, we were discussing about who will control the internet? At that time we looked at four companies: Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook! After a year while surfing around and discussing with visionaries–I came to a conclusion that the battle is between Apple and Google only. Others are fading away…

The recent acquisition of Quattro Wireless by Apple showed the intention they are having. It is an attempt to answer the move Google took with AdMob acquisition. On the other hand launching of Nexus One by Google created havoc in Apple’s board!! Even Eric, CEO of Google who was in Apple’s board had to leave. So the battle is fresh and both have the intention to become the number one in Mobile Computing!

Well the friendship was tight before Android launch by Google but after that the friendship turned into foe. And the success of AppStore triggered a wave of competition and Google followed it carefully.

The growth in mobile advertising will be coming and both want to have a leadership position there. It is a growing business…finding the right business model and usability is a challenge!!

125,000 mobile application on iPhone is an ocean to ride for Google. According to IDC, iPhone controls a 14% market share now while Android as 3.5% only. The same report says that Apple could employ its user data and geo-location technology to make ads more relevant–it is wait and see only now!!

On the search engine side Google has 65% of market share and in mobile search also a huge winner. But no one knows when Apple comes with its own search engine in iPhone replacing Google completely. I keep my fingers crossed!!

Another player in the market is Tablet from Apple. While looking at the software industry at least Microsoft never built PCs and I wonder why Google came to Nexus One? Any comments on this would be of great help!!

My bet is that Google might even make mobile phone free. If that happens then Apple would be in a difficult situation. But for that Advertisement Ecosystem in Nexus must be functioning and mCommerce might be a reality.

The loser in the game is Microsoft. Nokia is struggling with Ovi Store which has not been able to trigger any mass adoption unlike iTunes store or AppStore. Other tech giants are also fading away….as the game goes to Services not the design of mobile phone!!

Android is a threat to iPhone business (which controls 30% of Apple’s sales). Mobile search is going to boom with mobile advertising and there will be the battle coming. This collision of giants will accelerate Innovation and after a year we are going to revisit this blog and do the mapping again!!

Microsoft’s Failed Strategies

John Dvorak, a famous tech writer looks at Microsoft’s failed strategies and I thought of connecting it with Apple 2.0 Blog

Then, in the meat of his argument, he ticks off 10 of these “bright and shiny objects.” he quotes:

* Years ago in the pre-Internet era, AOL was the talk of the town, so Microsoft had to copy it with MSN. No money was made; no strategic advantage was gained.
* Netscape was the rage for a while, so Microsoft threw together a browser and got in that business. The browser was given away for free. No money was made; the strategy got the company in trouble with government trustbusters.
* During the early days of the Internet, new online publications appeared. Microsoft decided to become a publisher too, rolling out a slew of online properties including a computer magazine and a women’s magazine. They were all folded.
* Computer books became popular; Microsoft began Microsoft Press. After an early splash and success, the company soon lost interest and the division now languishes.
* Teddy Ruxpin became a hot toy. Microsoft rolled out a couple of robotic plush toys, including the creepy Barney the Dinosaur who sang “I love you and you love me.” The company soon lost interest and dropped the whole thing.
* AOL-TV appeared, along with other device-centric TV-delivery mechanisms in the 1990s. Microsoft created a Microsoft-TV division as well as a device. It soon lost interest.
* Adobe Photoshop became a huge success, so Microsoft hired Alvy Ray Smith to develop photo-editing software. Smith quit when the company lost interest in the idea.
* Yahoo and Google showed that a search engine could be a money maker, so Microsoft copied that idea; it now has Bing.
* Cloud applications are currently trendy, along with notions about software as a service. Microsoft decides to go into that business.
* The Apple rolled out a MP3 player, the iPod. Microsoft came up with its own MP3 player, the Zune. The company also says it wants to stream music.

“This is a company that began making development tools for programmers,” he concludes. “Does anyone see a pattern here?” A billion dollar Question!!

Service Differentiation Strategy for Mobile Industry

Success of Apple’s iPhone and related AppStore is forcing all players in mobile industry to rethink their value offering. There are two factors that they are trying to strive for: higher revenue and customer loyalty. Both factors are so crucial for saturating voice revenue and strong competition from service offerings.

What is happening:

1. Vodafone is reconfiguring Vodafone Live!

2. Nokia’s Intention of OviStore is known to all

3. Nokia Comes with Music in itself is moving into service space from device space.

4. RIM is creating Blackberry World as a service store

5. Nokia is launching a publisher programme for Symbian

6. Please do not forget AppStore which triggered all the above phenomeno

7. “Pre-pay customers will not pay €300 to €400 for a smartphone and 45 per cent of our market is prepay today.” Says Orange. So there is a need for proper segmentation and tailored services to that segment.

Telecom quotes Pieter Knook, director of internet services at Vodafone,  that phones with this capability will cost less than €100 this year and be selling for under €50 in 2010. “A single function app could be installed at the point of sale for markets like India and Turkey, making the phone customised to the user and without the complexity that a browser implies.”

Knook, who joined Vodafone 15 months ago after 18 years at Microsoft, said that having web distributing applications is a must have because WAP portals are old technology. Vodafone has teamed up with three other big operators that it has ties too – Softbank Wireless, China Mobile and Verizon- to create the JIL (Joint Innovation Lab), a joint venture to develop a common platform to develop mobile services aimed at the companies’ combined 1.1 billion customers.

“Apple has changed people’s expectations,” said Knook. “They want a personalised web and HTML at the heart of it. The idea that mobile is a different technology from the rest of the internet world is not tenable anymore. Apple shattered that.”

While operators have a direct billing relationship with their customers, other players including Apple, Google, RIM, Microsoft and Nokia, among others, all have different motivations for offering their own operating platforms for developers to build mobile applications and services. Indeed, the large number of platforms makes developing applications to work on a number of devices very expensive.  “The industry needs to work together to develop some rules to gather developers together so we can have success like the Apple’s app store has had success,” said Orange’s Thomas. “When you talk to developers now they all want to be on the Apple app store.”

Knook says that one answer is to focus on using web run time as a platform for apps. “Web run-time works across a broad range of devices and it’s all based on a JavaScript widget which is something that every high school graduate can write,” said Knook. “So from a development perspective you are enabling a much bigger ecosystem.”

Device makers and in particular Nokia and Sony Ericsson, are on a collision course with operators as they expand their business beyond the device itself and into services like Nokia’s Comes with Music. Already Vodafone does not allow Comes with Music on its network devices. “We don’t like spending our handset subsidies on helping Nokia sell more music,” said Knook.

Orange’s Thomas agreed: “Some applications on the device are unacceptable.”

On the other hand, Vodafone is opening up its billing engine to application providers over the course of the next 12 months. By October 2009 micro-billing capabilities should be open across eight of Vodafone’s countries with the rest following in 2010. “Opening up our billing engine allows for many more scenarios with a micro-billing capability,” said Knook.

Although there are challenges ahead the future for smart phones looks bright and the operators have taken a leaf out of iPhone’s book about simplicity of use. Now they need to package that with the advantages they bring including a billing and customer service relationship. “We think that the next step if we want to avoid being just a dumb pipe carrying bits around with maximum efficiency is to build our own services suite, which is what we are doing,” said Knook.