Android OS Open-Source Strategy
Baraa Abudawod · PDXScholar (Portland State University) · 2012
The mobile phone industry has increased in size for the last several years. Nowadays, mobile phones have become a tool for entertainment and information, and not only a tool for making calls or sending text messages [1]. In this paper, Google’s strategy for Android will be discussed which created a competitive advantage for Google in the mobile devices industry. In addition, Porter’s five forces analysis will be utilized to analyze Google’s strategy for Android as Porter’s five forces analysis is an applicable tool to study the business strategy of a company. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis will be applied to Android to further investigate Google’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in order to look for areas of improvements that can help Google maintain its competitive advantage. In general, this paper will evaluate Google’s strategy for promoting and developing one of its core competencies which is the Android operating system. Porter’s five forces model will be used as a framework to evaluate the strategy that is being adopted by Google. The model will show the big picture of the mobile devices industry which is a highly competitive market. Moreover, SWOT analysis along with Porter’s five forces model would analyze/evaluate the effectiveness of Google’s strategy for Android in gaining a competitive advantage.