The mobile operating system market share war is over for the time being. Google won… by a landslide. Google’s land grab strategy has paid off as Android has proliferated faster than any other mobile platform in history, and the OS is currently found on five times as many devices sold each quarter as its next closest competitor, iOS. But has it really paid off?
It’s impossible to know exactly what Android is worth to Google considering the nature of the beast — Android is a conduit for Google services such as search and Gmail, which carry with them Google’s various advertising products — but that obviously won’t stop industry watchers from trying to figure it out. Via Asymco’s Horace Dediu, The Motley Fool noted in recent coverage that Android’s value to Google isn’t what you think it is considering the platform’s dominance.
“Other than serving as a platform for its search engine, wireless is not a big part of Google’s business,” The Motley Fool’s Mark Morelli wrote. “Only about 2% of its enterprise value is estimated to come from mobile. Therefore, Google might be rooting for Apple to succeed, too, as iOS is responsible for the majority of web traffic generated and has more than a 2:1 advantage over Android.”
Dediu said in a tweet that the figure might actually be even lower — Android might be worth only about $2 billion, or 0.7% of Google’s enterprise value, in fact.
