Narrative: Android is Hard
Each narrative page (like this) has a page describing and evaluating the narrative, followed by all the posts on the site tagged with that narrative. Scroll down beyond the introduction to see the posts.
LG posts $224 million loss as ‘weak’ selling G5 smartphone drags it down once again – TechCrunch (Jan 25, 2017)
LG’s smartphone business has been struggling for at least 18 months now – it briefly went into the black in late 2014 and early 2015, but with that exception has been struggling for even longer, posting losses for the last six straight quarters and eleven of the last twenty. Shipments are falling on an annualized basis – they were 55 million in 2016, compared with 59.7 million in 2015 – but the company is also spending more on marketing and its flagship phone isn’t making the waves past versions did. The modular G5 wasn’t well received and LG will abandon that approach in favor of the smaller-bezeled strategy others are pursuing too ahead of an anticipated launch of a similar phone from Apple in the fall. LG’s troubles just reinforce both the overall challenges of doing business in a maturing smartphone market and trying to compete using Android against many others using the same operating system.
via TechCrunch (slide deck with full results available from this page on LG’s website)
Samsung Electronics Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2016 Results – Samsung (Jan 23, 2017)
Samsung released preliminary numbers a few days ago, and rather shocked everyone by previewing some of its best results in a long time (and its best operating margin ever). Until today, though, we didn’t know the precise breakdown by segment behind those numbers – now we do: the mobile business rebounded decently from last quarter, but is still a shadow of its former self in terms of both revenues and profits, while the semiconductor business is going gangbusters. The latter provided a quarter of revenues but a little over half of operation profits for Samsung Electronics last quarter, and was the major driver of that fantastic overall operating margin. An increasing focus on premium products and rising prices driven by tight supply versus demand both helped that division, while on the mobile side Samsung seems to have done a good job selling Galaxy S7 phones to those who might otherwise have bought a Note7. It looks like Q1 might be a little tough on the mobile side – we won’t get a Galaxy S8 at Mobile World Congress in February, meaning Q1 will be the lull quarter before a likely launch in Q2. But overall this is a pretty decent set of results for a company dealing with the fallout of the Note7 recall.
via Samsung Electronics Announces Fourth Quarter and FY 2016 Results – Samsung (Samsung’s earnings deck with lots more detail here and there’s more coverage on Techmeme. You might also be interested in the Samsung Q4 2016 deck which is part of the Jackdaw Research Quarterly Decks Service)
Super Mario Run will be available on Android in March – The Verge (Jan 23, 2017)
Super Mario Run was an iPhone exclusive when it first launched, and as such was featured in Apple’s Fall 2016 keynote. However, that exclusive won’t last forever, and it appears that the game will be coming to Android in March, despite the criticism of the business model and other features of the game. What’s not clear is whether the business model will be the same – while getting people to pay for iPhone games is hard, getting Android users to pay up is much harder still, so I wonder whether the additional investment will be worth it if Nintendo sticks with the $10 unlock model. More broadly, there will be additional games for both iOS and Android later this year, so Nintendo is clearly still committed to its smartphone game strategy. However, we still haven’t seen the symbolically important release by Nintendo of any of its highly popular original games for smartphones, something almost every observer seems to think it should do, but which it chooses for some reason to resist for now. It’s also worth noting that Super Mario Run (though not the next game) is another example of iOS first, Android later – a trend that continues to be one of the biggest hits against Google’s Play Store and Android in general.
via Super Mario Run will be available on Android in March – The Verge
Google’s New Stab at Boosting Android Brand in U.S. — The Information (Jan 17, 2017)
Android One has always been an attempt by Google to try to squelch some of the uniqueness of various OEMs’ versions of Android, which is arguably inimical to their interests, given that such customizations are often the main way OEMs can differentiate when running the same underlying OS. I had assumed Google was slowly sunsetting the program given how little it’s talked about it recently, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see it now apparently coming to the US (the main focus so far has been emerging markets). Given the low price point, this can be seen as a combination of Nexus replacement and Google Pixel counterpart – a vanilla Android experience for low-end buyers, with the promise of regular quick updates to the OS. It’s also reminiscent of the strategy Motorola began to pursue towards the end of its time as a Google subsidiary. Of course, the big question is whether any smartphones coming out of this program will get carrier distribution – that makes or breaks phone launches in the US for the most part.
via Google’s New Stab at Boosting Android Brand in U.S. — The Information
HTC’s new flagship phone has AI and a second screen, but no headphone jack – The Verge (Jan 12, 2017)
HTC is the Android smartphone manufacturer I keep expecting to be the first to when the shakeout starts, and it’s hard to avoid the sense that this shakeup is imminent. Its financials make grim reading – rapidly declining revenues and regular losses, with only a brief blip following the launch of the HTC Vive. HTC typifies what’s happened to the big-name Android vendors over recent years with the exception of Samsung – LG, Motorola, Sony, and others have experienced similar challenges. Each has its own attempt to turn things around, and with HTC it seems to be the combination of investment in VR and an expansion of its premium smartphone lineup along with some feature experimentation. We’ve already seen the modular approach come and to some extent go, but second screens seem to be a feature that’s sticking around a bit longer. None of what’s here makes me think it’ll help turn HTC’s fortunes around though.
via HTC’s new flagship phone has AI and a second screen, but no headphone jack – The Verge
LG Electronics, Moving Away From Modular Model, Plans New Smartphone – WSJ (Jan 4, 2017)
I’ve been skeptical of the modular approach to smartphones taken by both LG and Motorola from the start – a smartphone that becomes what you want in different scenarios sounds great, until you realize it will cost lots more to get all the add-ons/mods. In practice, it’s a gimmick few will go for, and it seems LG now recognizes that its experiment didn’t pan out, and will go back to a more traditional approach. Kudos for trying something new, but being an Android OEM remains really tough.
via LG Electronics, Moving Away From Modular Model, Plans New Smartphone – WSJ
Android Wear watches ready for prime time? ZTE thinks so – CNET (Jan 4, 2017)
The prevailing narrative around Android Wear – and it’s an accurate one – is that it’s flailing, and OEMs are largely backing away from it. ZTE offers a counterpoint here – it’s planning to launch a watch later in the year – but it’s the exception that proves the rule, as Roger’s piece here points out. I still think the best hope for Android Wear is really compelling first party hardware from Google, though that may also kill off what few OEM offerings remain.
via Android Wear watches ready for prime time? ZTE thinks so – CNET
FCA and Google Collaborate on a Uconnect System Concept Powered by Android – Fiat Chrysler (Jan 2, 2017)
This is an interesting side benefit of Google’s partnership with Fiat Chrysler around autonomous vehicles – FCA is now using Android N to power a new version of its Uconnect connected car technology in cars. FCA is on the official list of Apple CarPlay partners too, so even though there’s deep integration with certain Android apps here, this doesn’t mean iPhones will be second-class citizens in the car. But it does mean Google is now in cars in two distinct ways while Apple still seems to be honing its strategy behind closed doors.
via FCA and Google Collaborate on a Uconnect System Concept Powered by Android – Fiat Chrysler
Cyanogen finds another way to flail by shutting down all services Dec 31st – The Verge (Dec 24, 2016)
This story calls this an ignominious end for Cyanogen, which had promised to be one of the more interesting competitors to the official version of Android, and that seems about right. This was a company and product with all kinds of interesting potential, but it was largely squandered, in part due to an excess of hubris. A good summary of all the implications has been posted at Lifehacker.
via Cyanogen finds another way to flail by shutting down all services Dec 31st – The Verge
LG’S Mass-Tier Smartphone Offerings for 2017 to be Unveiled at CES | LG Newsroom (Dec 23, 2016)
It looks like LG has pre-announced lots of their CES smartphone announcements, focused on mid-tier phones. Given how everyone but Apple and Samsung (and more recently the Google Pixel) is struggling in the premium market, it makes sense for LG to focus here, though competition from China is intensifying in this segment. Tough times for Android phone makers.
via LG’S MASS-TIER SMARTPHONE OFFERINGS FOR 2017 TO BE UNVEILED AT CES | LG Newsroom