My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica: Why Google Android is Dying as Smartphone and Tablet Sales Fall

Friday, July 15, 2016

Why Google Android is Dying as Smartphone and Tablet Sales Fall

“Too many cooks spoil the Broth”

English Proverb

It's finally happening people.....the End of Android.

I say this as some OEM (Original Equiptment manufacturers) are getting out of the Android market altogether. Ring the alarm, another smartphone OS is dying!

Production of Sony smartphones in Brazil has ceased and even Korean Giant LG had had some of their executives walk the plank after their G5 Smartphone failed to generate sales as noted in “Android is imploding, and there's nothing that can be done to stop it”, published July 5, 2016 By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet.

The reason for these OEM's generating low sales is due to the fact that there are just too many of them making devices that use the SAME OS as opposed to Apple that makes products, the Apple iPhone and iPad that use Apple iOS.

The writing was already on the wall when very few OEM presented new Tablets at the CES 2016, which I pointed out was an indication that Tablets were dying as predicted in my blog article entitled “Why Tablets missing from MWC 2016 as Tablet Extinction and smartphone VR cometh”.

Android is Dying – Bigger marketshare but Apple makes money more efficiently

This may strike many as odd; Google Android controls the smartphone and tablet makes, with more devices using Android that Apple.

But Apple is more efficient, making more money from its Apple iTunes store than Google does from their Google Play store as noted in my blog article entitled “Google Android Top Dog in Mobile Ad Marketshare in First Quarter of 2014 – Apple iOS STILL more efficient at Mobile Advertising powered by iTunes”.

According to online Ad Network Chitika, Apple iPhones also have more web traffic than Android devices, which means more revenue for Apple as pointed out in my blog article entitled “Ad Network Chitika says Apple iPhone has most Web Traffic - Despite smaller screen Apples and Oranges makes Bittersweet Conclusions”.

Chinese OEM, taking advantage of their ability to produce cheaper smartphones, have already begun flooding the market with cheaper high-end smartphones based on the Q4 of 2014 IDC Stats as presented in my blog article entitled “IDC Stats for Second Quarter of 2014 points to Asian Smartphone Rise – How cheaper smartphones are slowly killing BOTH Apple and Samsung marketshare”.

Folks, this was a slow, prolonged an agonizing death that’s happening to android as despite a bigger marketshare, Apple makes money more efficiently.

So what does this mean for the future of Android?

Android is Dying like a Supernova - Shadows from the PC-Era plagueing Android

Apple's drop in sales was the first sign of this global contraction in smartphone sales as the market is saturated as noted in the article “Apple Reports First Quarterly Sales Drop Since 2003 as iPhone Stumbles”, published April 26, 2016 by Daisuke Wakabayashi, Wall Street Journal.

The excess of OEM is made worse by the fact that the number of people who do not have a smartphone is getting smaller. The result is that prices have been slashed on products and many OEM are no resorting to using gimmicks to sell their smartphones.

Innovation, the buzzword that used to attract customers to by Android products, is no longer working as there is little to differentiate one OEM tablet or smartphone from the other. This as despite having different features, most customers are really not interested in innovation, just an all-in-one device that can be a smartphone and tablet. Only a seriously good feature will generate more interest, namely:

1.      US$200 or less for high-end features
2.      1 week or months long battery life
3.      Self-recharging smartphones
4.      Internal Storage equivalent to a Laptop
5.      Unlimited Data without a Data Plan
6.      Unlimited Calling without being charged
7.      World Phone capabilities, eliminating roaming
8.      Universal e-SIM, reducing the need for a SIM Card

Because little differentiates the OEM's, nobody stays with a particular brand for very long.  They switch just like the weather, unlike Apple iPhone and iPad users who are more likely to stay in Apple's well manicured garden called Apple iTunes, as very few quality Apps are in the Google Play Store.

Plus engagement with Apps is at an all time low; very few people actually use the Apps pre-installed on their smartphones. Add to that the growing problem of unfixed bugs in Android as detailed in my Geezam blog entitled “Android Browser Security Unfixed as Google Wants you to Upgrade to Lollipop”.

This is made worse by the growing problems of fragmentation in the Android world even as Apple still manages to have a rapid adoption of its latest iOS updates as noted in my Geezam blog entitled “Why Android Fragmentation Worsens as Apple iOS 8 adoption almost complete”.

Good to note here Apple isn't killing off Android; their sales are also down. Rather, Android is falling prey to the same problems that cause the PC Industry to fail; too many PC that look too much alike.

Unless smartphones and tablets can do the above, Android will die with as sales are falling out of the sky..... 



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