Why Android OS Can Maintain Its Dominance

According to the Smartphone OS Market Share for Q1 2015 released by International Data Corporation (IDC), “Android dominated the market with a 78.0% share in 1Q15. Samsung reasserted its global lead with a renewed focus on lower-cost smartphones.” Likewise, as per Good Technology‘s Mobility Index Report, “Android gained wider adoption in less regulated industries, increasing to 47 percent in high tech sectors and 44 percent in energy sectors.” These figures clearly indicate the dominance of Android operating system over the global smartphone market. There are also a number of reasons why Google’s mobile operating system is expected to maintain the dominance over a longer period of time.

10 Reasons Why Android will continue to Dominate the Smartphone Market

1. Open Source
Unlike other popular mobile operating systems, Android is open source. Google has already released the source code of Android under the open source licenses. Thus, both device manufacturers and app developers can use the mobile platform without paying any additional fees or royalty. At the same time, the device manufacturers have option to customize the open source software stack, along with using some of the widely used applications developed and licensed by Google.

2. Number of Devices
The popularity and market share of a mobile platform depends on the number of devices powered by it. At present, iOS is being used only by iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, whereas Windows Phone is being used only by specific devices. But Android is currently being used to power a variety of mobile devices launched under different brands. As the mobile platform is being used by device manufacturers across the world its market share keeps increasing consistently.

3. Growing Popularity among Enterprises
A gradual increase is being noted in the number of enterprises adopting bring-your-own-device (BYOD). But many reports have highlighter the huge popularity of iPhone and iPad among enterprises. A number of recent reports have highlighted a steady increase in the adoption rate on Android among less organized industry. Thus, the BYOD trend will contribute towards making Google’s mobile operating system more popular.

4. Inexpensive Options for Users
Apple devices are often considered to be rich men’s mobile devices. Apple always charges a premium price for iPhone and iPad. Also, Apple App Store has a higher number of paid apps in comparison to Google Play Store. As each user wants to avail a lots of options without paying spending a hefty sum of money, Android will remain popular among users across the world. In addition to accessing advanced features of the Android OS, they can also access a large number of apps without paying a premium price.

5. Supported by Google
Android can further take advantage of the massive popularity and brand value of Google. While using the mobile platform, users have option to use several popular applications launched by Google including Gmail, Google+, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Drive and Google Maps. Likewise, the entrepreneurs and marketers can also use specific applications like Google AdSense, Google Analytics and Google Finance to carry on business activities on the go. The support and applications provided by Google will also contribute to maintain the massive market share of Android.

6. Loads of Innovative Features
There are also a number of features that make Android score over iOS and Windows Phone. Recently Apple unveiled iOS 9 with several new features and enhancements. But many analysts highlighted that some of these iOS 9 features are actually inspired by Android. Apple copied several features from Android like reminders, split-screen multitasking, transit directions, low power mode and the Notes apps. Thus, the people using Android devices can always avail a number of innovative features that other popular mobile operating systems lack.

7. Number of Free Apps
Often the buying decision of an individual is affected by the apps available for the mobile platform. But each individual wants to download and use his favorite apps for free. As Google Play Store has more free apps than Apple App Store, the Android users can use a large number of apps incurring additional expensed. The large number of free apps in the Google App Store will further contribute to maintain Android’s market share and dominance.

8. Popularity among App Developers
As an open source mobile OS, Android makes it easier for developers to build and distribute mobile apps. Further, the programmers can write Android apps in Java programming language. As Java is a powerful and widely used programming language, many developers are familiar with it. So they can easily write robust Android apps in Java. At the same time, they can also submit the apps to Google Play Store without any major restrictions. Also, Android app developers can choose wither Windows,Linux or OS X for creating apps for Google Play Store whereas an iOS developer needs to stick to Mac and OS X only. Thus, developers will contribute towards maintaining Android’s popularity by launching new apps at frequent intervals.

9. Frequent Updates
Google further updates Android at regular intervals to make it more competitive and relevant. Each new version of Android comes with several innovative features and deliver richer user experience to beat other mobile platforms. Also, the new features seduce users to switch to the most recent version of Android. For instance, Google recently announced Android M with an improved online payment solution that enables users to make payment at over 700,000 retail location simply with a touch on their devices. Likewise, Android M also comes with a feature called Doze that puts the processor almost to sleep when the user’s device is not moving for a long time.

10. Option to Get More Relevant Information
Being backed by Google, Android makes it easier for users to access the latest and most relevant content and information. They can easily initiate web searches by using Google as their default search engine. Also, the latest version of the mobile operating system enables users to gather more information about a topic without leaving the current mobile app or Chrome browser. The Chrome Custom Tabs feature will allow users to get more relevant information without leaving the original app. In addition to loading the custom tabs more quickly, the feature will also support custom branding.

While evaluating the popularity and market share of Android, one must not forget the market share of different versions of the mobile operating system. As the users do not have any option to switch to the latest version of the mobile platform without changing their devices, they have to buy new devices to take advantage of the most recent version of Android. Thus, the sale of devices will also increase whenever Google updates its mobile operating system.

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Top 10 Reasons Why Android OS Can Maintain Its Dominance

Chandra Brijesh July 27, 2015

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