Google xPhone Focused on Samsung, Not iPhone

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Google's rumored "xPhone" may be an attack on Samsung more so than the iPhone.

Just before Christmas, a report from Reuters claimed that Google is working closely with Motorola to develop a smartphone that will grab market share from both Apple and Samsung. The news arrived shortly after reports surfaced that Google was selling off Motorola's set-top box business so that the company could focus on high-end smartphones instead.

News of the new Android phone, dubbed as X-phone or xPhone depending on the source, came from unnamed insider sources who told The Wall Street Journal that Motorola is currently working on two fronts: Android phones to be sold exclusively by Verizon Wireless, and the secret xPhone which will be enhanced by its recent acquisition of Viewdle, an imaging and gesture-recognition software developer.

According to the sources, the xPhone is slated to arrive sometime in 2013, followed by an "X" tablet. Google Chief Executive Larry Page has reportedly set aside a significant portion of Google's marketing budget for this particular unit, the Wall Street Journal quoted.

On Monday Unwired View published an interesting look on why Google would want to compete directly with Android partner Samsung. Simply put, it's because Google doesn't make money off the Android OS, and Samsung does. Instead, Google makes its revenue from services offered on the iOS platform, through Google Play and perhaps even the millions of Android phones on the market.

"The fundamental difference is that with xPhone, Google has complete control over the development, distribution and marketing of this device," Unwired writes. "They want to build a smartphone that is at par with iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy. Perhaps they will do even better, leveraging the latest R&D from Motorola, particularly the company’s work with multi-core processors and mobile battery technology. This will certainly be a boon for users."

News of the xPhone seemingly contradicts reports that Google claimed it wouldn't show preference of newly-acquired Motorola over its Android partners. In fact, several key partners supposedly received Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" first as a compensation of the acquisition in an effort to calm 3rd-party fears. But as Unwired points out, the Nexus 4, a joint effort between Google and LG, received "middling" reviews when released in 4Q12.

That said, Google may simply think it's had enough and wants to take matters into its own hands much like Microsoft did by entering the tablet sector with the Surface RT and (soon) Surface Pro tablets. As previously stated, Google likely wants an Android smartphone that's at least on par with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy line.

Even more, Samsung sold more than 200 million Android devices in 2012 – that's four times more than the nearest Android competitor – and boasts plans to sell more than 300 million in 2013 alone. And because Android is offered for free to manufacturers, Google won't see mounds of cash from those sales. There's even a possibility that Samsung could "fork" Android and cut out Google services altogether, thus reducing the revenue trickle by using Bing Maps and Bing instead.

Ultimately Google's goal with the xPhone may be to take control of the Android smartphone market away from Samsung so that one Android partner isn't crowding out the others. It's also seemingly looking to generate the same revenue load Apple takes in by establishing a fully-controlled, fully-closed Android hardware/software platform.

Of course, because the xPhone is unannounced and based off insider info, all of this is mere speculation at this point.

Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback

Kevin Parrish
12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • vilenjan
    more competition = win for the end user. The latest Nexus phone being $300 is a direct result of this,
    Reply
  • jn77
    The only issue is, the last Motorola phones that "actually worked" that I owned or looked cool to own were 1. The startac:

    http://www.google.com/search?q=motorola+startac&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Mp7kUOrhG86o0AHmnoCQDw&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1034&bih=771

    or any of the Nextel Motorola phones that could be dropped from a 60 story building or thrown out of a race car going 200mph and did not have a scratch on them or a broken screen.
    Reply
  • WithoutWeakness
    There's even a possibility that Samsung could "fork" Android and cut out Google services altogether, thus reducing the revenue trickle by using Bing Maps and Bing instead.
    This would be suicide for any Android phone manufacturer. I love my Samsung phone and I think Samsung has been making phenomenal devices but I would replace it in a hearbeat if it was packed with Bing apps instead of Google ones. Samsung saw the hell Apple went through for using their own Maps. They would never make the same mistake by dropping Google maps for Bing Maps.
    Reply
  • jn77The only issue is, the last Motorola phones that "actually worked" that I owned or looked cool to own were 1. The startac:http://www.google.com/search?q=mot 34&bih=771or any of the Nextel Motorola phones that could be dropped from a 60 story building or thrown out of a race car going 200mph and did not have a scratch on them or a broken screen.the RAZR V3 was pretty damn awesome tbh
    Reply
  • wemakeourfuture
    vilenjanmore competition = win for the end user. The latest Nexus phone being $300 is a direct result of this,
    The newest Nexus was a piece of crap, lets not get that issue started again, there's a tonne of phones with similar specs for $300-$375. It doesn't compete with flagship Android phones that's why its priced where it is, its a mid-range smartphone.
    Reply
  • vkg1
    Google are so naive. THey don't realize possibly the single biggest reason phones from the east are so much more popular than the iCrap is that people in East and people in Europe are sick of American arrogance and overly competitive practices.

    Motorola will be less successful than Asian companies NO MATTER WHAT. In fact, the more they take a Samsung type approach, the more they will not be competitive. If they are more similar to the iCrap, in the manner that Samsung device are more similar in some ways to iCrap (but not in the truly evil ways, rather only in appearance of UI, sound effects, etc), then people who buy Americans will just buy iCrap instead of Motorola.

    Motorola's best hope would be to gun for what's left of non-conformist American consumers by being different from iCrap. The rest of the world is already gone for them no matter what they might try. The rest of the world is waiting for Samsung to create a replacement for Android. Most of you are Americans so you don't know, but I do.
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    vilenjanmore competition = win for the end user. The latest Nexus phone being $300 is a direct result of this,Competition was one factor that drove down the price of the Nexus 4. But there was other things too. Like the fact that the Nexus 4 is a mediocre-build LG phone that lacks LTE on US airwaves, has no SD card slot, and insufficient internal storage? You'd have to buy the $350 model just to get 16GB without a memory card... which is ALSO insufficient in my mind. The camera isn't that great either, for a supposedly top-notch phone. Maybe they can sell you another $350 Nexus with 32GB next year. It does have a pretty decent display and a fast processor.

    One of the biggest problems however, is that the big carriers don't give you a discount for using a phone off-contract. So if you're planning on sticking with one of the big carriers for their performance in your area, you might as well get a subsidized phone.
    Reply
  • dishayu
    wemakeourfutureThe newest Nexus was a piece of crap, lets not get that issue started again, there's a tonne of phones with similar specs for $300-$375. It doesn't compete with flagship Android phones that's why its priced where it is, its a mid-range smartphone.For starters, please tell me which other 375$ phone has a quad-core (krait) processor, nfc, wireless charging and 720p display?

    If a Galaxy S3 and a Nexus 4 were selling for the same price, i'd still pick the nexus 4. The only thing i'd really be giving up with that decision is the storage capacity/options (LTE isn't relevent to me yet). I get better performance and latest software in return.
    Reply
  • CrArC
    Just before Christmas, a report from Reuters claimed that Google is working closely with Motorola to develop a smartphone that will grab market share from both Apple and Samsung.
    Earlier, in Google HQ:

    "Larry, this is terrible. We only seem to have sold 38 Nexus 4 handsets! Curses, how does Samsung do it?!? They've sold millions!"

    "Well Eric, perhaps if we made more of them to cover the ongoing demand...?"

    "You're right, the Nexus 4 clearly isn't good enough. Let's make another one."

    "That's not what I-"

    "We'll call it the xPhone. Make 50 - no, 100 of them. This time we're bound to succeed."
    Reply
  • vkg1
    otacon72I've read this babble 3 times and it still doesn't make sense to me....
    Are you able to understand: "Motorola has no future in trying to compete with other phones that run Android"?

    Europeans and, more importantly (as it is growing the most by far), the entire population East of Europe, will never buy a Google product unless they are forced to. Currently, they are forced to because the only other choices are iCrap and MSCrap. But this will not continue indefinitely, as Samsung will eventually be larger than GOogle and will make their own variant of Linux/Apple destroying OS for devices that destroy iPhone and iPad.
    Reply