Pressure from Apple’s tight integration of hardware and software key to acquisition

Boston, MA - August 15, 2011 – More than 70 percent of consumers agreed that apps would be extremely important when purchasing their next handset and now Google can rival Apple’s app ecosystem, according to the new Strategy Analytics report, “Googlorola: Good News or Bad News for Developers and the Android Market?”

Apple built the iOS ecosystem on the strength of developing hardware and software that worked in conjunction. Apple’s development paradigm led to innovative apps and a platform that focuses more on experience than technical specifications. Although Google innovated consistently with the Android platform, it has failed to effectively tie software upgrades to new hardware which developers could leverage in order to create new compelling apps.

While other factors certainly played a critical role in the selection of Motorola as an acquisition target, Google will be able to leverage the purchase of Motorola to address three critical flaws with Android:

• A subpar ecosystem for consumers and developers
• APIs that are not specifically focused on improving usability
• Fragmentation

According to Josh Martin, Director of Apps Research at Strategy Analytics, “Providing developers with an environment in which they can succeed will be critical to building long-term support – support which is essential to consumer interest. If handled correctly, the acquisition of Motorola –– could help Google make Android into a platform that offers unrivaled revenue opportunities. But this acquisition is not without risk.”