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The big Apple-Google fight isn’t about iOS vs. Android anymore

Published Jun 3rd, 2015 3:55PM EDT
Apple Vs. Google iOS Android

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The biggest battle in the tech world for the past several years has been the battle for supremacy in the mobile platform world. iOS and Android have been the two main fighters and in a sense they’ve both won: Android has gotten the most total market share while iOS has taken in most of the actual profits. With iOS and Android firmly established as the two main players in the mobile world, Apple and Google have moved on to fight on new battlegrounds, as a new post by Neil Cybart smartly explains.

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Basically, it seems that Google and Apple are both still dependent on one another. Since user engagement is so much stronger on iOS than it is on Android, iPhone users are an extremely important part of Google’s overall user base. Conversely, iPhone users still love Google services and apps such as Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube and Apple has struggled to make its own apps with comparable appeal.

So how is the new battle shaping up?

“The primary question is now focused on how successful Apple will be in loosening its dependency on Google services,” Cybart explains. “There are signs that we may see a more aggressive stance from Apple towards replacing many Google services with homegrown alternatives. This motivation will likely come to represent the driving factor for the continued battle between the two companies. While we may see skirmishes from time to time over individual features and services, the much bigger battle is clear: Apple and Google are built on a fundamentally different view of the world and each will now fight to occupy a user’s time with the best experience.”

Cybart’s whole take is worth reading and can be found here.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.