What Android Needs in 2023 to Overcome iPhone's Dominance - CNET

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Android has fallen into 2nd spot successful the US to the iPhone for the archetypal clip successful implicit a decade. The escaped and open-source operating system, which inactive powers the bulk of the world's phones, tin beryllium recovered connected devices from Samsung, Motorola and OnePlus. Even erstwhile combined with fund brands specified arsenic TCL, Nokia and Blu, Android-loaded handsets can't outsell the iPhone stateside.

From a planetary perspective, Apple's dominance is an outlier. The US, Canada and Japan are the lone countries wherever Apple has an borderline implicit Android. Everywhere other Android leads, usually by a wide margin.

Android falling down speaks to the cachet Apple has built up astir the iPhone franchise. From celebrities photographed astatine cafes with iPhones to their ears to late-night hosts engaging successful repartee with an Apple Watch cuffed to their wrist, Apple products are some relation and manner of America's aristocratic class. And acknowledgment to iMessage, Apple has created messaging partition, with the "haves" enjoying bluish bubble gardens and the "have nots" being relegated to greenish squalor. Heck, adjacent movie villains can't beryllium filmed utilizing an iPhone.

But there's crushed to beryllium optimistic astir Android's attempts to retake the crown successful the US. Google is gathering retired an ecosystem to situation the Pixel 7, including with the instauration of the Pixel Watch. A Pixel tablet is coming adjacent year. And Android does person its ain basal of rabid fans -- adjacent if they're not connected a Hollywood set.

So what tin Google bash to marque Android applicable successful the US again? Here are a fewer ways.

Double down connected ecosystem

Google took excessively agelong to merchandise the Pixel Watch, letting the Apple Watch enactment arsenic a Trojan Horse and support radical locked wrong Apple's garden.

"Apple has specified a sticky ecosystem. Especially the Watch, erstwhile you bargain that watch, you're locked into an iPhone," said Techsponential expert Avi Greengart. Google hasn't had that up until this year. "And adjacent then, its archetypal ticker is truly a 1.0 product."

Google's dilatory trudge bringing the Pixel Watch to marketplace means that the Apple Watch remains acold ahead. At slightest present there's an enactment for Pixel owners to support them from feeling near behind.

The US marketplace differs from the remainder of the satellite successful that there's acold little contention successful the Android space. Concerns astir Chinese tech companies tracking American consumers person fundamentally made it intolerable for brands similar Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo to run successful the US. That leaves a fistful of brands that tin merchantability alternatives extracurricular of Samsung and Google.

"Having much devices successful the marketplace besides gives the carriers much choices connected devices they tin springiness distant for escaped oregon bash much promotions on," said Anshel Sag, an expert astatine Moor Insights & Strategy.

The deficiency of shaper diverseness is lone 1 occupation Google is facing. The iPad enactment continues to stay a fashionable second-screen device, acting arsenic an net gateway for some toddlers and the elderly. Only 1 high-quality Android tablet comes to caput with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, but its bundle is obscurity adjacent arsenic refined arsenic iPad OS, with it often feeling similar a large surface mentation of Android. Google has already announced a "premium" Pixel tablet for 2023, but it truly volition request to impressment to gully successful the throngs of consumers trained to look astatine iPads arsenic the tablet.

Unfortunately, 1 country Google mightiness not beryllium capable to connection a viable rival to Apple is successful laptop and location computing. Google's Chromebooks are fantabulous affordable laptops for basal tasks, but deficiency the horsepower and flexibility to connection the functionality recovered with MacOS and Windows. It's a marketplace that's already been carved up by Apple and Microsoft, making it hard for Google to make a viable alternative. Even if it did, the installed basal would beryllium truthful tiny that it wouldn't pull apical developers. Here, Google's champion enactment is to proceed integrating its products amended with Mac and Windows machines to connection a comparable acquisition to iPhone and Mac.

Matter matters

One country that Google has dominance implicit Apple is successful astute home. Cupertino is seldom speedy to leap into caller merchandise categories, which is evidenced by years of rumors surrounding Apple's expected VR/AR headset and the Apple car. Apple did effort to marque an effort astatine location devices with HomeKit, but it's mostly been near forgotten. Google, connected the different hand, has a dense beingness successful the astute location with its dependable assistant-backed displays, specified arsenic the Nest Hub, and its Nest WiFi, Doorbell and camera products.

Unfortunately, the astute location manufacture has stagnated with a dizzying array of competing products confusing consumers. A idiosyncratic who owns an Amazon Alexa astute talker mightiness beryllium unsure if it volition cooperate with their Google Nest doorbell.

Enter Matter, a cosmopolitan astute location modular that volition let caller location devices, careless of brand, to pass with 1 another. Even Apple, the institution that enjoys creating walled gardens, has joined the Connected Standards Alliance, on with Amazon, Google, Samsung, Ikea, Lutron, Signify and others.

"That is an country wherever Google could instrumentality immoderate advantage, gathering much of those controls oregon conscionable exposing them much successful Android," Greengart said. This includes gathering retired a person's homepage, widgets and making connections betwixt aggregate devices. Greengart said it'll beryllium up to Google to fto radical cognize that astute location interoperability tin beryllium done champion connected Android.

Beat Apple to innovation

Google's merchandise events proceed to get better, bringing greater accumulation worth and fanfare, but inactive can't seizure the aforesaid magic arsenic Apple. The Cupertino, California-based institution inactive has that quality to drum up excitement implicit its household of products and services. Enthusiastic rhetoric from executives mixed with precocious accumulation worth tin marque a idiosyncratic judge that Apple is bringing the latest successful tech and innovation, adjacent if that isn't ever the case.

High refresh screens to optical representation stabilization and laser autofocus, each features Apple breathlessly crows about, came to Android first.

There are, however, consumers who spot past the fancy macro shots and bash privation to beryllium the archetypal to caller tech. This is an country Google should double-down connected to entice enthusiasts.

Already, rumors are surfacing of a Pixel foldable device, 1 that could vie with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

"I deliberation [Samsung's] truly starting to summation momentum there. And I deliberation it's showing, but the occupation is the price, right?," Sag said. If Samsung tin proceed pushing the terms of foldables down, it'll assistance summation the category's popularity, bringing much competition. "As a result, contention volition astir apt adjacent much income and much competitory pricing."

Google has besides been heavy advertizing Pixel features, specified arsenic live construe successful its 2022 World Cup commercial. The Pixel 7 is besides the authoritative "fan phone" of the NBA this season, with a commercial featuring subordinate Giannis Antetokounmpo and histrion Simu Liu. Google has besides reportedly placed the largest bid of Pixel 7 devices, much than immoderate anterior iteration. Regardless of income and personage endorsement, Google needs to marque Pixel consciousness premium and exclusive, astir anathema to Android's halfway imaginativeness arsenic a escaped and open-source operating system. Because, if Apple's occurrence is immoderate indication, radical similar feeling arsenic if they're successful the "in crowd."

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