Horace Dediu on ‘Non-Google’ Android Phones

Horace Dediu, on the fact that all iPhones ship with apps that use Google services, but some (many?) Android phones don’t:

In other words, is Google’s income from the iPhone offsetting its losses from Android?

That’s a cheeky way to put it. Another way to look at it is that Google is in a great position: they win if Android wins, and they win if iPhone wins. And I don’t think it’s a zero sum game where only one platform will “win” — it’s looking to me like both the iPhone and Android are winners, which is good news all around for Google. It’s sort of like Microsoft and the Mac — Microsoft makes money when you buy a Windows PC, and they make money when you buy Office for Mac.

★ Thursday, 30 September 2010