Google and Apple have been rivals in the mobile operating system market since the inception of superphones. Partnering with manufacturers and allowing them to customize their version of Android seemed to be the prevailing strategy for Google with the exception of the Nexus program. In order to set a benchmark on how Google sees the future of Android, it used to be that once a year Google would partner with a manufacturer to release a phone which was running “Vanilla Android”. No customizations nor bloatware, just a clean build of Android. Partnering manufacturers would change, some even releasing phones in several consecutive years, but the they would be solely responsible for the hardware, while Google would provide the software.
Things started to change in 2015 though. Google released the Pixel C, a unique tablet that was made entirely by Google. No known hardware manufacturer was advertised and it seemed to show that Google had a different plan for the Nexus program. As this device was made entirely by Google, the company took an approach similar to Apple, where they designed and developed the hardware and the software to run together for the best possible user experience.
This year, Google launched their own phone, Wi-Fi router, virtual reality headset and home assistant. All of these devices are #madebygoogle incorporating both software and hardware in order to provide a seamless experience for end users. Suddenly, they became a hardware company.
This causes a significant disruption for all their partners who are currently selling mobile devices that run on Android. Pixel, Pixel XL and Pixel C represent the Google vision of Android, hardware and software. They are no longer solely partnering with manufacturers; they are also actively competing with them.
As the #madebygoogle products are priced at a premium, there should be less competition in terms of the majority of the Android market, but this does not mean that users who used to favor other high-end handsets will rely on the offerings of partners. There will be Android purists who will purchase hardware made only by Google as relying on partners means, slower updates, limited feature sets, and sometimes even restricted access to bleeding edge features, such as Google Assistant which is currently exclusive to the Pixel and the Allo app.
References:
https://madeby.google.com/
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/5/13167230/walt-mossberg-google-pixel-phone-industry-shake-up
http://www.theverge.com/a/google-pixel-phone-new-hardware-interview-2016
http://mashable.com/2016/10/06/google-assistant-not-in-android-nougat-7-1/
Google’s new smartphones are about Google, not Android
