Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG)
was founded in 1996 and went on to become the undisputed king of
Internet search and advertising. Ten years later, it brought its
ubiquitous search engine to mobile phones with the launch of Google Mobile.
And now, with the proliferation of smartphones, Google is pursuing a
broader range of mobile initiatives that will make it a leader in
mobile software and take its advertising business into territory that
so far has been uncharted.
Google's original business model, as it applies to its trademark
search engine, was to give away a product and have it funnel users to
its targeted ads. Last year, the company built on that model by giving
away its operating system (OS), Android, to any wireless handset maker that would have it.
So far, Android has only appeared on 12 phones worldwide since its
launch a little more than a year ago. But according to industry
analysts, that's just the beginning.
Market research firm Gartner Inc. (NYSE:
IT)
expects Android to appear on 14.5% of all mobile phones by the end of
2012, second in market share behind Nokia Corp.'s (NYSE ADR:
NOK) Symbian OS, which the firm predicts will command a whopping 39% of the market. Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq:
AAPL) iPhone OS will be third by that time with 13.7%, while Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:
MSFT) Windows Mobile will be fourth with 12.8% of the market.
Gartner predicts Research in Motion Ltd.'s (Nasdaq: RIMM)
BlackBerry OS, currently No. 1 in the United States and No. 2 in the
world, will fall to fifth place with a 12.5% market share.
"Android adoption is literally about to explode," Google Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt told analysts in a conference
call last month. "You have all the necessary conditions: You have the
vendors, you have the distribution, and so forth."
Here's how Android is igniting that "explosion:"
- Open source code: Android, based on a Linux kernel
is distributed for free to handset makers, which then can customize it
any way they wish.
