Apple's control advantage, and what Google needs to do with Android

Earlier this week, Apple announced the iPad 2, a solid, if incremental, next step for the iPad design. When the iPad 2 goes on sale on March 11th, nine days after it was announced, it will be launched with two important media creation apps, iMovie and GarageBand, and a new version of iOS, 4.3. For its part, iOS 4.3 will be deployed at no cost onto all iPads and most iPhones and iPod touches starting the same day. (Update, March 10, 2011: Apple made iOS 4.3 available for download starting yesterday.)

Apple controls its own hardware, software and distribution infrastructure. That level of control causes a lot of consternation on the part of consumers and developers who'd like the freedom to run what they want, when they want, on Apple's devices. However, Apple's control gives it a significant ongoing advantage over Android.

The existing and forthcoming collection of Android tablets demonstrates the disadvantages of Google's approach. Last fall, Samsung introduced its Galaxy Tab tablet, which launched with Android 2.2. It was officially endorsed by Google, meaning that it got access to the Android Market and could run Google's own Android apps, although Google's own executives cautioned that Android 2.2 was designed for smartphones, not tablets. Galaxy Tab purchasers reported that the product functioned more like a big smartphone than a tablet, and as reported by a number of sources, sales have been disappointing.

Google's hardware and mobile carrier partners are under no obligation to upgrade smartphones and tablets in the field to the most recent version of Android. They're not even obligated to release new devices with the latest version of Android. Google itself released Google TV with an earlier version of Android. Google keeps track of the versions of Android in use by monitoring Android Market app downloads, and according to its own statistics, more than 10% of Android devices actively in use are still using Android 1.5 or 1.6. (Google's statistics don't track the "unauthorized" Android devices that don't have access to the Android Market.)

Update, March 6, 2011: Here's an excellent example of Google's dilemma: According to Engadget, Olivetti in Italy just announced its OliPad Android tablet. It has all the hardware features it needs to support Android 3.0: Tegra 2 processor, 10" 1024 x 600 display, WiFi and 3G, yet it's being released with Android 2.2 rather than Android 3 as its operating system.

Many developers have complained about the variety of Android versions in use, but Google's management says that it's a "non-issue". Nevertheless, buyers of Android devices have no guarantee that their smartphone or tablet will ever be upgraded to a newer version of Android. Apple developers can largely target the newest version of iOS, with assurance that it will quickly spread to most iOS devices, but Android developers have no such assurances.

That brings us to the current wave of tablets running on Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb. First out was Motorola's Xoom, which launched with less than 20 tablet-aware apps, a price very near Apple's top-of-the-line iPad, and future compatibility with LTE that will require the tablets to be sent back to Motorola for free upgrades. Early reports indicate that the Xoom is selling much more slowly than Motorola or Verizon, its sole carrier partner in the U.S., expected. Next up will most likely be LG's G-Slate, with similar specifications and a carrier partnership with T-Mobile, followed by Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Google could have taken control of the process and required hardware vendors and mobile operators to agree to upgrade their devices to the latest version of Android within a reasonable period of time after they're released, but it chose not to do so. It could also have compelled vendors to hold back their tablets until a critical mass of tablet-aware apps was available, but again, it chose not to do so. If you buy a Motorola Xoom today or a G-Slate or Galaxy Tab 10.1 tomorrow, do you have any assurance that it will run Android 3.1, or 3.5, or 4.0, or that the manufacturer or carrier will allow you to upgrade? The answer is no.

Google could have orchestrated a huge day-long event in April or May to introduce the Xoom, G-Slate and Galaxy Tab 10.1 together, each with its carriers, along with perhaps 1,000 tablet-aware apps. Each vendor could separately announce their products, along with ship dates, prices and carrier partnerships, at the event. A separate Developer Showcase at the event could have shown off the best of the new apps. But, none of that is going to happen. All three tablets, along with their apps, will trickle out over the next few months.

Google needs to start exercising more control over its hardware partners, carrier partners, and the Android Market (see this week's malware breakout). Android is now important enough to its partners that Google has the power to coordinate product launches and updates, if it chooses to do so. Google can still have open source and an open development process, but it needs to act a bit more like Microsoft used to when it coordinated hardware partner launches with new versions of Windows.

What's going on with Android 3.0 tablet pricing?

The annual Mobile World Congress opened this morning in Barcelona, and as expected, there were many smartphone and tablet introductions. One of the most important was LG's Optimus Pad, which will be sold in the U.S. by T-Mobile as the G-Slate. The Optimus Pad runs Android 3.0, has a dual-core processor and an 8.9" display--fairly standard so far as Android Honeycomb-based tablets go. The big shocker, however, was the price: According to Engadget, the Optimus Pad will be priced at 999 Euros, or the equivalent of $1,395 in the U.S. Even after you subtract the 19% VAT, its equivalent U.S. price is $1,075. That's almost $250 more than the most expensive iPad.

Motorola's Xoom Android 3.0 tablet, which has a 10.1" screen but otherwise is almost identical to the Optimus Pad, will be priced at $799 (U.S.) when Best Buy makes it available for pre-sale later this week. That's $30 less than Apple's price for its top-of-the-line iPad. However, Verizon is rumored to be requiring Xoom buyers to purchase at least one month of broadband data service in order to enable the tablet's WiFi interface. The least expensive data plan is $20/month, so that makes the price difference between the Xoom and the iPad only $10.

Last fall, the expectation was that WiFi Android tablets would sell for between $300 and $400, and their lower prices would give them an advantage over the iPad. Now, however, two of the three major Android 3.0 tablets announced so far are priced as high or higher than the most expensive iPad. (The third tablet, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, hasn't yet been priced.)

The iPad 2 is widely expected to be released in the next couple of months, and the big differences are likely to be dual cameras and a faster processor--the key features that differentiate the new Honeycomb tablets from the current iPad. The iPad 2 is almost certainly going to be priced no higher than the current model, so where is the market opportunity for Android 3.0 tablets?

We may eventually see Android 3.0 tablets from second- and third-tier manufacturers that are priced in the $300-$400 range, but Android tablets need to compete with the iPad now, not at some unspecified time in the future. The pricing policies of the first-tier manufacturers may end up giving the tablet market to Apple--or they may open the door for RIM's PlayBook (which the company's CEO said today would sell in a basic WiFi-only configuration for under $500) or HP's TouchPad, if HP prices it aggressively.