Android @lemmy.world skymtf @lemmy.blahaj.zone 4w ago

Is Google going to stop supporting android due to lack of profitability?

So at the moment Apple hold the 1st place in mobile OS marketshare, I feel the unfortunate thing that will happen as marketshare drops Google will slowly move to supporting projects other than android, and eventually drop support entirely and focus on making better iOS apps, Device makers will start making their own operating systems with tighter locked down appstores in order compete with iOS, we already see this with Amazon planning to switch to a linux based OS in future fire devices.

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At the moment Apple hold the 1st place in mobile OS marketshare,

Eh?

Android 71%, Apple 29%
- I think the stat i looked at was sales
  
  IIRC Apple only is 1st in sales revenue and sold devices of a single sku. All Android phones combined have a far bigger share by volume.
  
  Which makes sense, since iPhones are on average incredibly expensive, especially for many countries where they have to be imported.
Do you mean are they going to drop the second most profitable OS in the entire world to focus on making apps for their main competitor? No, probably not.

A quick cursory search shows that Google makes billions of dollars annually off of Android software. Just because they're in the number two spot doesn't mean they're not making an obscene amount of money
- Android is actually THE biggest mobile operating system, with Apple's iOS being in second.source
  
  Thus, Android most likely is the most profitable mobile os out there. They're not stupid enough to stop supporting it. However, I am worried about AOSP's future in the long term, what with tech giants being tech giants.
  
  Android is the most popular OS even when you include desktops, etc
- Also Android has strategic importance to Google. Their philosophy is to spread out and control their own platforms.
  
  Normally Google, since they offer a search engine, ad platform and online services, could have stuck to just renting servers and cloud.
  
  But they didn't, they also created their own massive online storage platform, their own cloud platform, their own browser and browser engine, their own mobile platform, their own PC-based platform, their own wearable platform and so on.
  
  They will never give up Android, unless perhaps they will have something else already prepared to replace it. But it would be an insane undertaking to move everything over, but to mention having to drag consumers and manufacturers and app creators kicking and screaming every step of the way.
- And google makes billions off of apple software and searches too.
Legitimately, where did you see that Android isn't profitable?
While posible, don't forget about the pixel series, Google dipped into hardware. So at least for a good bit they are going to stay the course. Chromebooks are a cousin of android and is something I bet they have support contracts via education for years to come.

Though it's Google so it's posible
- What connection do Chromebooks have to Android? I thought ChromiumOS was based on Gentoo Linux.
  
  A bit of the selling point for the chromebooks is that it can run a lot of stuff from the playstore. Why called it a cousin.
That's bonkers, you do know how much money Google makes off selling data and ads, right? Being able to track folks physical location and a majority of their internet activity is a big piece of their advertising revenue. Google makes most of their revenue from ads and user data, no longer developing Android would be idiotic, this being the case.
OS no! But knowing Google I do worry about pixels, which I prefer as my daily driver.

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