14 DAY TRIAL // Android is right now the top mobile operating system worldwide with a market share that’s in some markets more than double the share of Apple’s iOS, and there are signs it’s well positioned to continue its growth even more.
But while Android is currently the leading mobile platform worldwide, back in its early days on the market, pretty much everyone played down its chances to become something big. In fact, almost everyone mocked Google’s mobile push, including companies that in the meantime surrendered in the smartphone wars, as it’s the case of software giant Microsoft.
Truth be told, Android certainly wasn’t great when it was born. Everything was super simple, yet very slow, and the majority of users and tech executives alike believed it was way too basic as compared to that time’s mobile platforms to succeed.
Microsoft, Nokia, and Apple were among the first to play down Android chances to impress because in 2007 when Google launched its operating system, all three were already big players in the mobile biz. Only Apple retained its reputation in this side of the market, while Nokia died and came back to life as a company committed to Android as well.
Microsoft: That's something we've been doing for years
Scott Horn, a member of Microsoft's Windows Mobile marketing team, didn’t think the Android effort was anything innovative since the software giant itself was already following a similar mobile strategy.
“It really sounds that they are getting a whole bunch of people together to build a phone and that's something we've been doing for five years. I don't understand the impact that they are going to have,” he said.
Nokia, on the other hand, which in 2007 was a leading brand in the mobile market, not necessarily because of smartphones, but mostly thanks to huge sales generated by dumb phones didn’t “see this as a threat.” In other words, Nokia didn’t consider Android a competitor at that point, and truth be told, it really wasn’t. The state of the platform in the early days certainly didn’t give Nokia a reason to be concerned about Android, though as the operating system evolved, it became more obvious that the Finish manufacturer needed to rethink its approach.
Apple tried to stick with a more gentleman approach, though its comments also indicated that it couldn’t consider Android a rival to the iPhone. Despite the iPhone itself having its very own problems in the early days on the market, that is.
“We have a great relationship with Google and this doesn't change anything. They are certainly an important partner for iPhone,” Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said in 2007.
Apple: We love Google
Android eventually evolved to become the leading mobile operating system, contributing to the death of Windows Phone, BlackBerry OS, and even Symbian. And while it did push Windows Phone to the dark side, it still helps Microsoft make billions of dollars every year without moving a single finger thanks to patents that the software giant owns and which are being used on devices from the majority of OEMs.
Somewhat funny yet odd is that Microsoft never learned from its mistakes. Android wasn’t the only product that the software giant downplayed and which eventually became a true competitor for its own solutions. Steve Ballmer made fun of the iPhone and called Linux a cancer, only to say more recently that he actually loves the open-source world.
“There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance,” Ballmer said in late April 2007. “It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get.”
Right now, the mobile world is pretty much all about Android and iOS, so despite these comments, everything worked out very well for Google. And by the looks of things, there’s no way Android is going to stop here.