Google (GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt believes the war between Android and Apple’s (AAPL) iOS is just about over and his side has won. In an interview with Bloomberg, the former CEO said that the current mobile battle is similar to the computing war that took place more than 20 years ago between Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple. The executive notes that Google is “winning that war pretty clearly now.” Schmidt’s words aren’t without merit; Android has seen explosive growth since its debut and controlled nearly 70% of the market this year. In fact, the operating system has been projected to dominate the smartphone market over the next four years while continuing to eat away at Apple’s tablet market share.
The Chairman’s comparison to Microsoft of the 1990s is fairly accurate. Windows was able to conquer the operating system space because of the strong support it had from a variety of manufacturers, while Apple refused to license OS X. Google has taken an approach similar to Microsoft’s, but rather than licensing the software it gives it out freely. This has helped the Android operating system see unprecedented growth.
“The core strategy is to make a bigger pie,” Schmidt said. “We will end up with a not perfectly controlled and not perfectly managed bigger pie by virtue of open systems.”
If taking shots at Apple wasn’t enough, the executive also jabbed the world’s largest social network, calling Google+ a “viable competitor to Facebook.” While Google’s social networking site has had its fair share of success, topping 500 million total users in a little over 14 months, it is no match for Facebook’s one billion monthly active users.
