“HTC’s first phone based on Google’s Android mobile OS has not only been set back but may be part of a greater shift away from the Linux-based platform, says Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry,” MacNN reports.
“The Taiwan-area cellphone maker is not only described as encountering ‘structural problems’ adding features Google wants in the phone as a showcase for Android but is allegedly holding up the launch with demands for a minimum payout that Chowdhry interprets as a lack of confidence in Android’s success,” MacNN reports.
“More concerning may be a shift in developer support, the researcher says. Despite Android’s open-source foundation, Google is reportedly struggling to encourage development of apps and is losing potential candidates to Apple’s recently launched iPhone software development kit as well as [other mobile] offerings,” MacNN reports.
More in the full article here.
In an interview early this year, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was said to be “skeptical about Google’s decision to develop smartphone software… ‘Having created a phone its a lot harder than it looks,’ he said. ‘We’ll see how good their software is and we’ll see how consumers like it and how quickly it is adopted.’ In seeking not to get locked out of the mobile phone world, ‘I actually think Google has achieved their goal without Android, and I now think Android hurts them more than it helps them. It’s just going to divide them and people who want to be their partners.'” – The New York Times, January 15, 2008