“Other than Samsung, I don’t know if other Android guys are making money,” the analyst said.
Google gives Android away free, but the platform is crafted to make it easy for people to use the California Internet titan’s money-making services such as search and maps, and get content at its online Google Play shop.
Forrester analyst Charles Golvin said that forces powering Android momentum include changing demographics of smartphone buyers.
Early adopters of smartphones focused more on new technology than on price, but the devices have gone mainstream with cost increasingly important to shoppers, according to Golvin.
“People are more inclined toward the Android platform because there is more choice and most of that choice is low price,” Golvin said.
The open nature of Android and the myriad models offered by gadget makers serve as a “double-edged sword,” warned the analyst.
Apple pushes annual updates of iOS mobile operating system out to its devices, while new versions of Android hit more often but must get through hardware makers and telecom services to get onto people’s handsets.
“You have this lengthy chain of intermediaries who are delaying the delivery of that new software and its innovations to existing devices in the market,” Golvin said.
He backed his point by noting that many Android devices in use still run on generations-old versions of the operating system.
Android gadget variety can also make it tough to design accessories or even “apps” that can be used across the array of devices.
For its part, Google has done an excellent job of improving the “ecosystem” of music, films, apps, books and more available for Android-powered devices, according to analysts.
In the red-hot tablet market effectively created by the iPad, strong growth is being seen by Android rivals including Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire and Nook devices from Barnes & Noble, which run custom versions of the software.
Analysts believe that the Google-backed operating system is likely to spread to typically “dumb” gizmos like appliances.
“These platforms are becoming the molecule elements for building all kinds of hybrid devices,” Dulaney said.
