One of the flies in the ointment for Google, in terms of its plans for mobile world domination via Android, has been the fragmentation of the user experience. It has repeatedly tried to unify this, to improve quality control, to provide predictability for users and developers, and to insist on a platform that is optimal for its services and the way it believes people should use the mobile Internet.
But while it has imposed some uniformities, at least on any partner which wants to enable the core Google services on the open source operating system, the largest Android device makers have still gone their own way in terms of the user experience.
Huawei, which (despite its challenges) overtook Samsung as the largest smartphone maker in the world in the second quarter of 2020, is obviously a lost cause. When the Chinese vendor was placed on the US entity list last spring, Google was quick to cut ties. Huawei cannot be barred from using the open source Android code, but it cannot now offer the core Google services, such as Maps, Search and the Play Store. It has responded by developing its own mobile OS and services, but while this is likely to be powerful in Google-free China, it remains to be seen how many other markets are willing to adopt a mobile platform that does not have access to the apps in the huge Play Store.
So the smartphone world, like many aspects of 5G, is likely to break into technology islands – one US-driven, one China-driven, with Apple as the important third wheel. But it seems that Samsung, the largest handset maker after Huawei, is more willing to work with Google on a common user experience, which in turn could encourage other operators and vendors to look for differentiation in other areas than the operating system and core apps. In Samsung’s case, the attempt to create a full mobile identity separate from Google Android has had mixed results, and its huge success in smartphones rests on many other factors – its product mix and range of price points; its advances in hardware features like screens; its hefty marketing efforts.
According to Bloomberg sources, Google and Samsung have been holding talks centered on Google’s digital assistant and Play Store, and whether these would gain greater visibility on Samsung smartphones, at the expense of the Korean vendor’s own Bixby and Galaxy Store.
In terms of the snowball effect on other vendors, such a deal could set a valuable precedent for Google, addressing some of the controversy which has always surrounded its Android licensing model. In particular, some have resented the obligation for companies which signed up to the Open Handset Alliance (which governs the terms for the full version of Android, with the Google apps) to prioritize Google services. Those which do not sign up to OHA can use the open source Android code, but are then blocked from using the popular Google apps. In 2018, this system resulted in a fine of €4.3bn from the European Commission, and India is currently examining the deals for potential antitrust violations.
Meanwhile, Samsung may be looking for friends as its markets come under pressure from the likely downturn in consumer spending sparked by the Covid-19 recession, and it lost the top spot in smartphone shipments to Huawei in Q220 – the first time for nine years in which a company other than Samsung or Apple topped the league table.
Research from Canalys placed Huawei shipments at 55.8m devices, down 5% year-on-year but above Samsung’s 53.7m, which represented a steep decline of 30%. Huawei’s domestic business grew by 8% despite the pandemic, which helped offset a 27% fall in overseas sales, which have been squeezed by US restrictions such as the Google action on Android. China now accounts for 70% of Huawei’s smartphone total.
Ben Stanton, an analyst at Canalys, said: “Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese recovery to reignite its smartphone business. Samsung has a very small presence in China, with less than 1% share, and has seen its core markets such as Brazil, India, the US and Europe ravaged by outbreaks and subsequent lockdowns.”
However, his colleague Mo Jia does not expect Huawei to hang onto its lead beyond this quarter, saying: “Its major channel partners in key regions, such as Europe, are increasingly wary of ranging Huawei devices, taking on fewer models, and bringing in new brands to reduce risk. Strength in China alone will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover.”