By Someone is an idiot when it comes to Android. It could be me… and I would openly agree with accusations of unbridled enthusiasm. But it could be people like Jim Woods from Seeking Alpha.
In a recent article entitled Smart Phone Wars, Woods completely dismisses the potential of Android while sheepishly bowing down to Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry. The supporting evidence? A ChangeWave survey of 3,597 consumers.
I agree… that’s a large huge sample. And yes, I agree… the results should be statistically accurate. But if you take a look at the questions being asked and the basis on which Woods’ makes his conclusions, there are a few fundamental flaws that are completely misleading.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
The survey asked respondents, “which mobile operating system they’d like to have on the smart phone they plan on buying.”
Ummmm… hello? Helloooooo? Earth to Mr. Woods – Earth to Mr. Woods. There ARE no Android enabled phones on the market. Unfortunately the article doesn’t come to an abrupt end… he concedes this point to the reader yet continues his analysis:
“While just 2% of respondents say they’re Very Likely to use the Android operating system, another 15% say they’re Somewhat Likely – indicating there is some consumer interest in the latest Google brainchild.”
The question you REALLY need to be asking if you want to value ANY of the data you’ve gathered is, “Do you know what Android is? If so… what?”
I’d be willing to bet that a large portion of consumers have either never heard of Android or have no clue what it actually is, what it will do or what it means to the mobile world. Sure… you and I do because we’re fans of mobile technology but the every day consumer knows nothing about Android.
Why not? Because there has been no commercial promotion or advertising of anything Android related. The iPhone and Blackberry are household names. They exist. They are feasible. And hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent making their presence known.
As for Android? There have been press releases. There have been articles written by technology journalists. It has received tons of press. But there has been NO commercial push whatsoever… it isn’t time yet.
But there WILL come a time. And I can assure you that when the companies who plan on releasing Android enabled phones finally release them, a MUCH larger percentage of those 3,597 surveyed consumers will know what Android is when they see it as a multiple choice option.
As of now (with nothing to sell) promoting Android to the mass consumer audience would serve little purpose. But when the likes of LG, HTC, Samsung and Motorola have an Android enabled product they want consumers to buy… trust us, your survey will prove a bit more accurate.
Woods sums up his prediction of Android with the following:
“However, based upon the quickly evolving RIM vs. Apple competitive landscape – and the fact that both companies have high customer satisfaction ratings – the likelihood of the Google Android OS competing against either the Blackberry or the iPhone’s operating systems seems farfetched at this point.”
You mean like nobody was ever going to compete with America Online in providing Internet Access? Or like Blockbuster and Netflix have such high customer satisfaction that nobody will ever challenge them in the movie rental industry?
[Via ChangeWave]
Looks like he was the idiot…