Is There No Space for Google in the Software Race?

 Recent news has shown that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung are dominating software sales. The two together represent the total of mobile industry profits. Alarming! So where does that leave Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)? Lagging a bit behind it seems.

Ok, but Android is Google, you’re probably thinking.  The profits made through software however, are going directly to its partners and not to Google itself.

Credit: android-logo-white by incredibleguy

Here’s the proof

A recent update from IDC Worldwide Quarterly Phone Tracker has shown that during the last quarter, Android shipped a total of 211.6 million smartphones which subsequently left Android with an 81.0% of all smartphone shipments. Furthermore, studies shows that four in five sold mobile phone devices are Android.

On another note Apple received 56% of profits coming from the mobile phone industry during the same quarter, which is not at all that bad for the manufacturer. It seems that a clear distinction can be made between those who go for Apple products and those who prefer Samsung.

Fred Wilson, principal of Union Square Ventures, recently came up with a few conclusions after analyzing the most popular apps on both Android and iOS. It seems that Android users are basically young pre-teens who haven’t much money and opt for cheaper phones. The market therefore consists of a younger crowd whilst iOS consumers are the “18 to 40 crowd”.

On a tablet situation..

It seems that in the world of tablets, Apple is not such a big name. Apparently Samsung has the upper hand in the market, thanks to its “phablets” (we mean the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung’s Galaxy Mega and the likes).  In second place is Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) who is thriving from the “real tablets” market. Apparently these are used mainly for entertainment; claims UBS, such as Amazon’s Kindle which is leading the charts. On the contrary, Apple’s shares in the same area have dropped from 70% to 30%.

No place for Google?

Interestingly enough, Amazon is pushing Google out of the way by making modifications to Android. It’s not the only company to do this though. Samsung and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) are currently trying to develop a new operating system called Tizen. It’s similar to Android in the sense that they’re both versions of Linux. It seems like Android might have a new competitor soon..