It was the first smartphone that I ever used — the T-Mobile G1, also known as the HTC Dream outside the US — which ran on Google’s Android operating system. In addition to its sleek design and features like a slide-out screen, a physical QWERTY keyboard, and a smooth navigational trackball, what made it stand out and enter the mainstream in 2009, months after its release, wasn’t the phone itself, but the pixelated logo on its 3.2-inch display.
Working as a campaigner exclusively covering CNET’s review of the Google mapulogalamu market for three years, I was at the launch event of the Google mapulogalamu in our San Francisco office for one reason only: Competition with the Apple’s smash-hit iOS for the iPhone. The results of the three-party campaign were coming soon to the Android Market, which had about 35 apps when it launched in 2008, and it was growing rapidly.
I knew I was one of the early adopters of smartphones. But what I didn’t know then was how Google’s Android operating system would help shape the global smartphone market or how smartphones would change our lives in the years to come.
This is the proof in the pudding: When the first Android phone went on sale 15 years ago today, on Sept. 23, there were more than 4.6 billion people on Earth — and many of them were using Google’s OS rather than another competitor’s. While Apple dominated the US market, five out of the top 10 smartphones worldwide were powered by Android according to November 2023 StatCounter – a staggering 70% of people globally.
Android’s dominance in the global market speaks volumes about Google’s influence. By venturing beyond powerful computers, affordable prices, and a plethora of options, the 3 billion devices running Android (according to Google, as of 2023) have permeated our lives from standalone cameras to personal computers. And anyone can use them.
These days, over 2.5 million Android apps are available on Google Play, according to Statista. (Google declined to provide other figures.) But in the early days of apps, the early stupid and powerless apps give other mainstream apps time to grow. The earliest days of Apple’s App Store also saw quirky apps, such as a virtual Zippo lighter. And almost every “app” for Android, as we called them then, was essentially a copycat with a pixelated design, reminiscent of the Web 1.0 era. But for me, Sergey Brin and Larry Page going for a stroll on their rollerblades weren’t the only things that put Google on the map on Sept. 23, 2008, a day to remember.
I’ll tell you, that was Google. On a handheld phone. They had an idea.
Together with Apple’s iOS, Android also revolutionized the smartphone industry. Google needed to catch up with Apple’s game-changing iPhone launched earlier in 2007. Google also needed a breakthrough in design when phones were bulky and many had terrible user experiences. It developed partnerships with hardware makers like Samsung and Motorola. And it fought against Apple by offering more choices, continuously improving features, and undercutting prices — all of which helped democratize smartphones and make them accessible to a wider audience.
Google continues to push the envelope. The growth of Android has brought us foldable form factors like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 that can be unfolded and transformed from a phone to a tablet, breaking the mold.
If someone had told me years ago that Android would dominate the global market, I wouldn’t have believed it. I was a tech newbie, barely able to take a decent photo with any smartphone, let alone distinguish between Android and iOS. Especially when the early rival Symbian had controlled 70% of the global market. BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Mobile were also formidable contenders, and WebOS for Palm came on strong as a tech media darling. In many ways, these early rivals fought fiercely against Android and Apple for dominance and market share.
In hindsight, the rivalry between Google and Apple to lead the smartphone industry was all about how phones are driven. Was that their vision from the beginning?
Context, as they say, is everything. Stay with me here. Take a look at the big picture.
The First “Phone” Put Google in the Game
The Apple iPhone: That’s what made the headlines. Apple was an innovation and marketing powerhouse, but it had already made a name for itself with the revolution of the iPod, its iconic music player. The iPhone, in essence, was like the cool, music-playing iPod that could also make calls, and — get this — surf the internet. But Google was an internet company that dabbled in many things. Google’s phone… did that resonate?
The “tech press,” they called it the flop in the early days when I covered the launch event I attended back in 2008. “Should it be called the Google Phone, or G Phone?” Yeah, neither. It didn’t happen. It would be another five and a half years when, on Oct. 4, 2016, the first “made by Google” phone, the “pure Android” Pixel, arrived, ditching any branding affiliations. And Google seemingly had no problem with that.
HTC was Google’s heart-first partner in the early days of Android. T-Mobile’s G1/HTC Dream had unique features that were ahead of its time.
What stood out for me in that context was the lack of general public awareness last year? Could it be because a major Android champion was focusing on whom it wanted to reach, in all its corners, instead of playing a clubby game at the top with the in-group’s zida? If I reflect back, it all makes sense to me now.
“Cool… but is that it?”
Maybe so. Or maybe Google’s guiding philosophy for leading Android was simpler, and much more profound.
