Characteristics of the Wireless Industry - Google and Android - Case Study Example

Google and Android

• Characteristics of the wireless industry

Guglielmo Marconi initiated the path for current wireless communications in the year 1896. Marconi used electromagnetic waves to transmit a three-dot Morse code over an expanse of 3km. From this commencement, wireless communication technology has gained tremendous milestones in terms of advancement and use. From television, radio, and satellite transmissions to the contemporary ubiquitous cell phone technology, wireless technology has revolutionized communication industry. Marconi’s work rapidly gained commercial and government attention in terms of innovations and developments. With universal protocol when it came to communication, the technology has continued connecting the world in various ways. The government, especially the military has relied heavily on the use of wireless technology to undertake most of its operations.

Despite its much use in various industries, this paper has focused on its advent in telephone communication industry. The invention of mobile phones has utilized wireless technology in various ways. The invention of smart devices has also steered the use of wireless technology for the past 8-10 years. Providers such as Verizon and AT&T have ventured in providing connectivity through wireless. User can have real time communication of voice and data through wireless technology in a more flexible manner. This is incomparable to 1990s when most providers relied on wires for transmission. More inventions have seen the increase use of wireless communication that is possible on smart device platforms. Most telecommunication companies have also ventured in providing efficient services through wireless connectivity. This has seen engineers spend more time in developing devices that are efficient while using the wireless technology. Another aspect that engineers are concerned about is the wireless speed and the capacity to accommodate large number of users. Wireless communication has changed the face of communication with more innovations expected to come.

• Android

Android is a popular OS (operating system) created by Google Inc. built on Linux Kernel (Paul 93). The operating system is developed for touchscreen gadgets such as tablets and smartphones. The OS made debut with the release of Android alpha in the year 2007. The initial commercial version of the OS (Android 1.0) was unveiled in September 2008. Google Inc. together with the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) constantly develops the OS. The team is responsible for a number of upgrades since its release. The recent one is Android 6.0 commonly known as “Marshmallow” that was unveiled in October 2015.

Since its release, the OS has been built under a confection themed code name such as Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream, Sandwich, Jelly Bean, Kit Kat, Lollipop, and the current Marshmallow (Andrew 104). From the look of the releases, the company has always tried to follow alphabetical order while launching their latest versions. The OS is popular for its powering screens of all sizes. It is known to be customizable, easy to operate OS that enable over a billion devices worldwide. The OS is unique with its nature to power tablets, phones, watches, televisions, and cars among others. This wide use of the technology in powering most of existing devices positions it strategically among other Operating systems.

The OS also works perfectly with people’s favorite apps such as Google Maps, Gmail, Calendar and YouTube (Gintare 62). This has given the OS a competitive advantage over other operating systems. The OS was designed by Google Inc. to bring their services and other Internet services to as many are users as it could accommodate. Android secures access and enable innovation from a software point of view. This is what tries to differentiate the OS from others.

• Google’s emphasis on Android

The Android department at Google Inc. understood that when it comes to pushing an industry forward, two complementary strategies were involved. Firstly, there was the need for scale, or reach. In this scenario, the company built developed a product with the intent of emerging the market leader, or somehow a major contributor. Secondly, there existed a complementary design approach, where the company built or designed a product with the implicit or the explicit intention of demonstrating to the industry what was achievable and spurring other core players to adopt the demonstrated technology (Gintarė 104). Android is an example of the former, a scalable play designed and developed to bring Google as well as other internet services to as many users as they can accommodate.

The company invests in the Android, as it knows that it has the capacity of attracting more users by providing apps that are used on a daily basis by most people. Another aspect that makes the company to continue investing in the OS is the success with which it comes with. The OS was also received well by most users (Eckert, Claudia, Katsikas, and Pernul 73). This has seen Android to be a major success for Google Inc. In mere seven years since the advent of smartphones, Android and iOS accounts for 95.6% of all smart devices shipped in the quarter of 2014. In the same year, Google Inc. sold over one billion phones, which accounted for almost 82% of the 1.3 billion smartphones sold universally (Eckert, Claudia, Katsikas, and Pernul 90). Android has exploded to a leadership position surpassing its major competitors such as iOS and windows phone.

• Stakeholders alignment

A major strength for Android is the company’s decision to collaborate with others is developing products that could run on android phones more easily. The company relied on intermediaries to connect consumers with their products. A major weakness for the OS is its incapability to take care of loopholes that its competitors have decided to adjust (Eckert, Claudia, Katsikas, and Pernul 89). These include tethering, file manager, customizable status bar, enhanced theme control, quick access app launcher, improved call screening or blocking, and improved security system.

Stakeholders in the wireless industry need Google just as the company also needs them. The stakeholders have collaborated with Google to produce products that work well with android OS. This has seen Google Inc. develop products that work well with most wireless devices (Gintare 132). The partnership ensures that connectivity is efficient and faster. It also ensures that more users are connected to the spectrum with information being exchanged at an alarming speed. The company’s expansion into various categories of technology ignited both opportunities and challenges for competitors. As the company became a provider for several digital services, competing with Google Inc. has become a hard task for most competitors.

The alignment of other companies with Google Inc. provides a platform that ensures wide use of both applications and hardware. For instance, Google Inc. collaborate with Samsung to distribute Android enabled smartphones across the globe. Misalignment would be disadvantageous for both, but Google Inc. is likely to suffer less (Gintarė 138). Any partnership with Google Inc. would mean wider user reach with the already established huge numbers by the company. Google Inc. understands that it needs such alignments to be either a leader or a major player in most products selling in the internet world. Misalignment may see the concept of Open Handset approach being doomed with most developers rushing to privatize their content for sale to make a coin. It would be very hard for developers to coordinate open source development.

• Threat to Android

Over time, one major competitor that poses threat to Android is the Apple iPhone. The widespread use of Apple iPhone is a clear indication that it is not yet time for Android to start celebrating the capture of hug market share. The use of Apple iPhone has gradually gained popularity in the US and Europe among other continent. With their recent announcement in the increase of sales and revenue, it is a wakeup call for Android to continue putting more effort in delivering products that meet user demand (Andrew 192). One aspect that distinguishes Apple iPhone is the fact that it is more secure compared to Android. In fact, it is this aspect that the iOS has gained popularity and most people prefer it. Apple iPhone has always been regarded as the most secure OS with giving hackers hard time to break into it.

Android is known to cater for everyone regardless of class. However, consumers are not deterred from spend provided that their privacy is taken care of at all time. This has seen more users order Apple iPhone even outside the United States. The middle class has continued to rise globally with most people from this category demanding quality product that makes them unique and secure. Of course, other operating systems are emerging such as windows operating system, Firefox operating system, Samsung’s Tizen, and Apple’s iOS among others (Andrew 204). However, what has given Google Inc. the lead is affordability and customer loyalty to the brand. For instance, a user would feel more comfortable reading Gmail mails or listening to YouTube music on an Android device that is developed by the same company that has developed these two apps.

• Firms and approaches that are likely to become disrupters

Most firms that are likely to disrupt converging industries are telecommunication providers such as Verizon and AT&T among others. Such firms are swift to adopt technologies that would see them remain as major contributors of wireless services. Google’s first attempt to address connectivity was its Fiber optic initiative, which started in the year 2012 as a pilot study in Kansas before being branded an actual business by the company’s CEO. The Fiber optic offered downloads and upload speed of 1GB per second, nearly one-hundred times faster than usual connection (Andrew 148). However, this was just a demonstration by Google Inc. of what can be achieved through faster Internet connectivity.

Google Inc. signaling effect was evident at the beginning of 2015 with providers such as AT&T’s U-Verse following the suite. U-verse is a seventy-five Mbps fiber Internet service capturing over seventy markets across America. On the other hand, Verizon’s FiOS started offering fifty to five-hundred Mbps download and upload speeds to more than 6 million users (Andrew 101).

Another approach that is likely to disrupt the wireless industry is the invention of smartphones with higher connectivity speed. This has been witnessed with invention of several bandwidths from 2G to the current over 4G in most parts of the world. Producers are concerned about offering devices with higher connectivity speeds (Andrew 117). This has seen phone manufacturers to start producing phones that comply with these broadband. Large firms such as Samsung are likely to start producing phones that have peculiar features as compared to Google’s Android. Such firms are likely to take advantage of Google Inc.’s Android weaknesses to develop operating systems that are efficient than Android (Andrew 121). However, major players that are likely to re-shape the wireless industry are the mobile phone service providers.