It’s here. A press conference today introduced Google’s handset with partner companies, Taiwan’s High Tech Computer and T-Mobile, to blogger, journalists and enthusiasts everywhere. There have been cheers and jeers. Yes, it has applications and its touch screen, blah, blah, blah, but, the device is about Google’s deeper push into advertising. This time, it’s the mobile advertising world that Google is lining up to dominate.
As Craig Wigginton, Deloitte’s telecommunications practice said: “Their number-one driver for pushing this is the advertising model.
Strategy Analytics is guessing that T-Mobile could sell 400,000 phones this year giving Google 4% of the U.S. Market for smart phones. That’s a lot of eye balls. And the next year, if all goes well, that number is sure to grow. Sure, mobile advertising is still a nascent market. Google getting in on the action is a smart play considering they own search already. There are more than 40 million active mobile internet users as of May 2008 according to Nielsen and the number is increasing.
Still, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Yes, Google is very cool, but when it comes to phones, the company well face a slew of competitors. One advantage is that it is an open source phone, which encourages participation and development. Amazon is already readying their application. Plus, Google is going to be releasing this new program on other platforms such as LG and Samsung next year. The Android software is free, which could encourage its use across many handset makers. It’s possible. This is a time game. Let’s wait and see…
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