Can Google’s Nexus One break the Apple’s iPhone dominance?

There was a lot of excitement in technology world about the launch of Nexus One, the Google’s much heralded smart phone device which was launched on 5th of January 2010 just before the start of CES 2010. A great phone on paper, this phone boasts specifications that can easily beat iPhone such as replaceable battery, better camera, faster CPU etc. This phone was developed by Google where the HTC was responsible for engineering and manufacturing the device. It runs Google’s popular Android OS which also has a growing list of applications to neutralize the Apple’s iTunes store. So with all of these developments, is 2010 is the year when Google can give Apple a good competition in the smart phone market and takes away some of the market share from iPhone? No I don’t think so, and there are my reasoning behind this answer.

First it is just a start for Google to enter into the mobile phone market. Just like every market and business the mobile phone market has its own dynamics where support and compatibility among other cool features are important aspects of the consumer requirements. Google either needed to offer this phone through the established telcos or needs to partner with another vendor to make support available to end users closure to the targeted markets. So far the Nexus One is launched in US with offerings in other countries expected later this year. Google has opted for both options as the phone is available through T-Mobile at this time in US on contract as well as available to buy standalone from Google’s website. Looking at the Google forums it seems that many users are frustrated about a lack of support information available to troubleshoot phone issues. A quick search on Google gave me a link to HTC website dedicated for Nexus One users. This site seems to have step by step information about using the phone and its operating system (i.e. Android). A good effort but by no means it can be compared against the maturity of the support and information offered by Apple’s iPhone.

Second reason for my belief is the brand identity. Google has great reputation in software making but most of it’s applications have a minimalist design and remain in beta for much of their product life span. It took several years for Google to get to this position where it is known for making innovating software products. Similarly it will have to consistently and regularly offer better, reliable and innovative phone products if it wants to take on Apple who has built its brand by consistently inventing innovative products and creating new product markets (read iPod, iPhone, iTunes etc). I don’t currently see Google’s brand standing for making good phones and neither I rate HTC as much I rate Apple.

Third and very important reason is the eco-system which Apple has created over years through iPod and iTunes store. These were highly successful products even before the introduction of iPhone. iPhone naturally extended the reach of iTunes to wireless and provided real benefits to end users. iPhone is seamlessly integrated within this eco-system which many companies in recent times have tried to copy but have failed to achieve the same level of success as Apple. Also by keeping a tight control over iPhone applications, Apple makes sure that all applications meet the UI and other criteria set by Apple which translates into a streamlined, expected and smooth experience for iPhone users. Google has developed its own version of app store which is called Android Market. Android market offers more flexibility to software developers as compared to Itunes app store which is tightly controlled by Apple. However loose control also has its own pitfalls such as potential for malware and unidentified security flaws coming into Android applications.

This is why I believe that Nexus One is a good attempt but to compete against iPhone Google needs to tick many more boxes.