There is so much hype about the iPhone thanks to Apple’s impressive marketing strategy that
its competition, the Android phones, don’t seem to be as popular. However, because iPhones
are usually tied to a mobile carrier brand, its market is limited by the carrier’s market size.
Both mobile platforms offer the user the capability to do more online work and play on a smart
phone device. Both offer software development kits or SDKs for developers who want to create
applications on these devices.
Both platforms have their loyal users.
The Android, an open source mobile platform developed by Google, has the advantage of
being able to run open source applications that may be free or at least have lower cost than the
proprietary applications that run on iPhone. Android itself is open source and free and can be
used on multiple devices from different manufacturers. Android is based on the Linux operating
System. The iPhone platform, called the iOS, is stuck with the hardware produced by Apple.
In the Philippines, only Globe subscribers can use iPhones “officially”. Users using other
networks would have to risk losing the warranty of the device by modifying its setup such that
the carrier restriction is removed. Android can be used by any carrier thus its potential market
size is much larger than that of the iPhone.
Worldwide also, iPhones are restricted to certain mobile carriers. In the near future, it should
not be surprising if Android phones will dominate the smart phone mobile market.
[Android logo: http://www.android.com/media/wallpaper/gif/android_logo.gif]
[get apple logo also]
[get pictures of android phone and iphone.