Technologies

What Google Needs to Do For Android to Overcome Apple and iPhone in 2023

Google’s Android has fallen to second place to Apple’s iPhone and iOS for the first time in over a decade. Here’s what the search giant needs to do to gain back the top spot.

Google has fallen second place to Apple in the Android vs. iPhone war for the first time in over a decade. The free and open-source operating system, which still powers the majority of the world’s phones, can be found on devices from Samsung, OnePlus and Motorola. Even when combined with budget brands such as Nokia, TCL and Blu, Android-loaded handsets can’t outsell the iPhone stateside.

From a global perspective, Apple’s dominance is an outlier. The US, Canada and Japan are the only countries where Apple has an edge over Android. Everywhere else Android leads, usually by a wide margin.

Android falling behind speaks to the cachet Apple has built up around the iPhone franchise. From celebrities photographed at cafes with iPhones to their ears to late-night hosts engaging in repartee with an Apple Watch cuffed to their wrist, Apple products are both function and fashion of America’s aristocratic class. And thanks to iMessage, Apple has created messaging partition, with the «haves» enjoying blue bubble gardens and the «have nots» being relegated to green squalor. Heck, even movie villains can’t be filmed using an iPhone.

But there’s reason to be optimistic about Android’s attempts to retake the crown in the US. Google is building out an ecosystem to surround the Pixel 7, including with the introduction of the Pixel Watch. A Pixel tablet is coming next year. And Android does have its own base of rabid fans — even if they’re not on a Hollywood set.

So what can Google do to make Android relevant in the US again? Here are a few ways.

Double down on ecosystem

Google took too long to release the Pixel Watch, letting the Apple Watch act as a Trojan Horse and keep people locked inside Apple’s garden.

«Apple has such a sticky ecosystem. Especially the Watch, once you buy that watch, you’re locked into an iPhone,» said Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart. Google hasn’t had that up until this year. «And even then, its first watch is really a 1.0 product.»

Google’s slow trudge bringing the Pixel Watch to market means that the Apple Watch remains far ahead. At least now there’s an option for Pixel owners to keep them from feeling left behind.

The US market differs from the rest of the world in that there’s far less competition in the Android space. Concerns about Chinese tech companies tracking American consumers have essentially made it impossible for brands like Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo to operate in the US. That leaves a handful of brands that can sell alternatives outside of Samsung and Google.

«Having more devices in the market also gives the carriers more choices on devices they can give away for free or do more promotions on,» said Anshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

The lack of manufacturer diversity is only one problem Google is facing. The iPad line continues to remain a popular second-screen device, acting as an internet gateway for both toddlers and the elderly. Only one high-quality Android tablet comes to mind with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, but its software is nowhere near as refined as iPad OS, with it often feeling like a big screen version of Android. Google has already announced a «premium» Pixel tablet for 2023, but it really will need to impress to draw in the throngs of consumers trained to look at iPads as the tablet.

Unfortunately, one area Google might not be able to offer a viable competitor to Apple is in laptop and home computing. Google’s Chromebooks are excellent affordable laptops for basic tasks, but lack the horsepower and flexibility to offer the functionality found with MacOS and Windows. It’s a market that’s already been carved up by Apple and Microsoft, making it difficult for Google to create a viable alternative. Even if it did, the installed base would be so small that it wouldn’t attract top developers. Here, Google’s best option is to continue integrating its products better with Mac and Windows machines to offer a comparable experience to iPhone and Mac.

Matter matters

One area that Google has dominance over Apple is in smart home. Cupertino is seldom quick to jump into new product categories, which is evidenced by years of rumors surrounding Apple’s supposed VR/AR headset and the Apple car. Apple did try to make an effort at home devices with HomeKit, but it’s largely been left forgotten. Google, on the other hand, has a heavy presence in the smart home with its voice assistant-backed displays, such as the Nest Hub, and its Nest WiFi, Doorbell and camera products.

Unfortunately, the smart home industry has stagnated with a dizzying array of competing products confusing consumers. A person who owns an Amazon Alexa smart speaker might be unsure if it will cooperate with their Google Nest doorbell.

Enter Matter, a universal smart home standard that will allow new home devices, regardless of brand, to communicate with one another. Even Apple, the company that enjoys creating walled gardens, has joined the Connected Standards Alliance, along with Amazon, Google, Samsung, Ikea, Lutron, Signify and others.

«That is an area where Google could take some advantage, building more of those controls or just exposing them more in Android,» Greengart said. This includes building out a person’s homepage, widgets and making connections between multiple devices. Greengart said it’ll be up to Google to let people know that smart home interoperability can be done best on Android.

Beat Apple to innovation

Google’s product events continue to get better, bringing greater production value and fanfare, but still can’t capture the same magic as Apple. The Cupertino, California-based company still has that ability to drum up excitement over its family of products and services. Enthusiastic rhetoric from executives mixed with high production value can make a person believe that Apple is bringing the latest in tech and innovation, even if that isn’t always the case.

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

There are, however, consumers who see past the fancy macro shots and do want to be the first to new tech. This is an area Google should double-down on to entice enthusiasts.

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

«I think [Samsung’s] really starting to gain momentum there. And I think it’s showing, but the problem is the price, right?,» Sag said. If Samsung can continue pushing the price of foldables down, it’ll help increase the category’s popularity, bringing more competition. «As a result, competition will probably equal more sales and more competitive pricing.»

Google has also been heavily advertising Pixel features, such as live translate in its 2022 World Cup commercial. The Pixel 7 is also the official «fan phone» of the NBA this season, with a commercial featuring player Giannis Antetokounmpo and actor Simu Liu. Google has also reportedly placed the largest order of Pixel 7 devices, more than any prior iteration. Regardless of sales and celebrity endorsement, Google needs to make Pixel feel premium and exclusive, almost anathema to Android’s core vision as a free and open-source operating system. Because, if Apple’s success is any indication, people like feeling as if they’re in the «in crowd.»

Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
WATCH: Alphabet briefly tops Nvidia after report of $200 billion Anthropic cloud deal

Technologies

Waymo recalls 3,800 robotaxis after glitch allowed some vehicles to ‘drive into standing water’

Waymo issued a voluntary recall of about 3,800 of its robotaxis to fix software issues that could allow them to drive into flooded roadways.

Waymo is recalling about 3,800 robotaxis in the U.S. to fix software issues that could allow them to “drive onto a flooded roadway,” according to a letter on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.
The voluntary recall is for Waymo vehicles that use the company’s fifth and sixth generation automated driving systems (or ADS), the U.S. auto safety regulator said in the letter posted Tuesday.
Waymo autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, were seen on camera driving onto a flooded street and stalling, requiring other drivers to navigate around them. It’s the latest example of a safety-related issue for the Alphabet-owned AV unit that’s rapidly bolstering its fleet of vehicles and entering new U.S. markets.
Waymo has drawn criticism for its vehicles failing to yield to school buses in Austin, and for the performance of its vehicles during widespread power outages in San Francisco in December, when robotaxis halted in traffic, causing gridlock.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday that it’s “identified an area of improvement regarding untraversable flooded lanes specific to higher-speed roadways,” and opted to file a “voluntary software recall” with the NHTSA.
“Waymo provides over half a million trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments across the U.S., and safety is our primary priority,” the company said.
Waymo added that it’s working on “additional software safeguards” and has put “mitigations” in place, limiting where its robotaxis operate during extreme weather, so that they avoid “areas where flash flooding might occur” in periods of intense rain.
WATCH: Waymo launches new autonomous system in Chinese-made vehicle

Technologies

Qualcomm tumbles 13% as semiconductor stocks retreat from historic AI-fueled surge

Semiconductor equities reversed sharply after a broad AI-driven advance, with Qualcomm suffering its worst day since 2020 amid inflation concerns and rising oil prices.

Semiconductor stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, reversing course after an extensive rally that had expanded the artificial intelligence investment theme well past Nvidia and driven the industry to unprecedented levels.

Qualcomm plunged 13% and was on track for its steepest single-day decline since 2020. Intel shed 8%, while On Semiconductor and Skyworks Solutions each lost more than 6%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF, which benchmarks the overall sector, fell 5%.

The sell-off came after a key gauge of consumer prices came in above forecasts, and as conflict in Iran pushed crude oil higher—prompting investors to shift away from riskier assets.

The preceding advance had widened the AI opportunity set beyond longtime industry leader Nvidia, which for much of the past several years had largely carried the market to new peaks on its own.

Explosive appetite for central processing units, along with the graphics processing units that power large language models, has sent chipmakers to all-time highs.

Market participants are wagering that the shift from AI model training to autonomous agents will lift demand for additional AI hardware. Among the beneficiaries are memory chip producers, which are raising prices as supply remains tight.

Micron Technology slid 6%, and Sandisk cratered 8%. Sandisk’s stock has surged more than six times over since January.