From InfoWorld: Compared to the glitz and fanfare surrounding Apple's announcement Tuesday of the iPhone 6 and the long-awaited Apple Watch, next week's expected debut in India of Google's Android One smartphones should be a more modest affair. It certainly will be treated that way by the media.
That's totally understandable: After all, when it comes to capturing the attention of the tech industry (and tech-savvy consumers), nobody can compete with Apple.
Yet Android owns nearly 85 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, according to Q2 numbers from both IDC and Strategy Analytics. Meanwhile, iOS has fallen to less than 12 percent from 18 percent three years ago. Based on those numbers, Android One devices could outsell the iPhone 6 globally over the next year.
This is not to suggest that Android One will steal away customers from Apple. That's crazy talk. Apple focuses exclusively on the high end of the market, and Apple customers are notoriously loyal. I'm fairly certain that a huge majority of people who will buy the iPhone 6 already own or have owned older versions of Cupertino's sleek smartphone. They're lifers, and gladly so.
Android's recent growth, in contrast, has been "fueled by gains in the low ($100 to $200) and ultra-low end (sub-$100) of the market," IDG reports. The Android One is targeting those same markets already dominated by the search giant, which might lead you to ask, "What is Google trying to accomplish here?"
View: Article @ Source Site
