Google is Supposedly Considering Building Their Own Smartphone from Scratch

[dgstorm]

How does a completely Google designed and built Nexus smartphone sound to you? Whether you love or hate the idea, it may become a reality. According to industry insider sources, Google is considering building their own smartphone from scratch. Whether it will be a uniquely marketed Nexus device or will be something else entirely is obviously unknown, but it's an intriguing idea.

The question is, how would other Android OEMs feel about Google making such a move? In the past, Google has always steeled themselves against competing with other Android OEMs by sharing the manufacturing of the Nexus line with various companies. There has been some overlap, especially with Google sticking with LG for 3 Nexus generations in a row (Nexus 4, 5 & 5X), but for the most part the system has worked.

However, if Google could actually build an Android device that is a direct competitor to the Apple iPhone, this could leave some of the other Android OEMs sucking wind from air that is already very thin. This would also put Google in direct competition with Samsung over Android.

Of course, that may not be such a bad thing for Android, since Samsung dominates the field currently. Also, a direct Google vs. Apple competition could be an intriguing thing to see. Finally, it would help Google improve the quality control of Android on smartphones.

Ultimately, Google has a ton of things to consider before making a move like this. Sound off with your opinions on this fascinating topic.

Source: Google Discussing Building Phone

 

[IIGood]

Kinda surprised it's taken them this long to consider it.

 

[kodiak799]

Well, should Sammie feel threatened, or should Google since Sammie is still pushing Tizen?

 

[Powarun]

Why didn't they do with when they bought Motorola? This makes very little sense to me. If true, I'm calling HTC to be the first Android carrier to go down.

 

[tech_head]

With Motorola they wanted the patent portfolio. They were less interested in the hardware.
They have spun off/sold all the components of the Motorola deal except the patent portfolio.

 

[boidsonly]

Yeah, they have exhausted all their means of tracking/data collection. Time to try something new...

 

[cereal killer]

Don't know how their partners will feel about this..kodiak brings up an interesting point though. Tizen....Tizen is the 2nd largest OS in the budget segment in India (after Google)

Its blantantly obvious Samsung wants India and for good reason. When the IoT picks up in India you can bet Tizen will gain even more steam/market share.

Google may see the proverbial writing on the wall...they need to get in there and offer their own budget phones that are priced competitively or cheaper than the Tizen phones or risk continuing erosion in their market share there. Its a huge market and still growing.

 

[94lt1]

They should've kept moto and did this back then...and if anything..Google has shown favoritism to Samsung over the years IMHO in regards to nexus devices..I could be remembering incorrectly.. But I don't think so

 

[Jeffrey]

Google needs to control the design and the manufacturing in order to compete across the low to high end markets.

 

[mountainbikermark]

It's all about the Benjamins.
Google sells Android to Samsung and gets paid. Samsung does what it does but Google got paid the same amount. While I agree with the India scenario until that comes to fruition it makes more financial sense to let Samsung, or whoever, stick with the hardware end no matter how much the consumer dislikes the bastardized versions they end up with. Let others do the r&d, pay the assemblers, make the parts, etc and take in the royalties for the os onboard. The Nexus lineup being such a minority in sales shows there's not a huge demand for pure Android yet. Throw in more labor and other costs and it makes less financial sense to me. Google is all about the Benjamins.

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[xeene]

I've tried their onhub router and it didn't live up to my expectations. I guess we will see when it happens.