Google's Android

Google's Android

Interview with Google's Eric Scmidt by LEWEB

Google's Eric Schmidt asserts that Android is ahead of the iPhone, and by mid-2012 Google TV will be everywhere. Is there anything to Schmidt's bold words, or is it just enthusiasm gone overboard?

Google chairman (and former CEO) Eric Schmidt is no stranger to controversial remarks. Some of our favorites include suggesting people move if they don’t want to be seen in Google’s Street View, and that Google will eventually get to the point where it has a good idea what its users are thinking. This week, speaking at LeWeb 2011, Schmidt has raised eyebrows again with two assertions: that Android is already ahead of Apple’s iOS, and that Google TV will be on the majority of new TVs by mid 2012.

These are bold words — but are they mere bravado intended to show Schmidt’s commitment and belief in Google and the Android platform, or is there something more than confidence behind the claims?

Is Android is ahead of the iPhone?

Speaking to a packed house at LeWeb — a conference in Paris aimed at online entrepreneurs and developers — Google Chairman Eric Schmidt responded to a question about developers aiming at Apple’s iOS before Android by declaring “Android is ahead of the iPhone now.” When the audience responded with silence, Schmidt went on to clarify how he meant that: in terms of “unit volume, Ice Cream Sandwich, the price is lower, and there are more vendors.”

Schmidt conceded that, right now, application developers are targeting Apple’s iOS first and Android second, but predicted that “six months from now, you’ll say exactly the opposite.” That is, Schmidt believes developers will increasingly target Android first.

The question was prompted by an audience member who asked why leading developers of mobile apps like Flipboard making their apps first for iOS, at the expense of other mobile platforms like Android. (Flipboard is just one high-profile example: others include Instagram, Stamped, and Path.) Sometimes, iOS apps even precede the same functionality on the Web and desktop platforms like Windows and Mac OS X. 

Schmidt’s argument that Android will become developers’ first choice of platform over the next six months is predicated on unit volume. He suggests that Google’s “open” approach encourages multiple manufacturers to develop for the platform. Android is indeed out in front on the hardware side: Companies like