Where are all the laptops on Android?
This post is a translation of an article that was published six months ago by Matt Baxter-Reynolds on ZDNet .
Summary: PC OEMs seem obsessed with building sophisticated, expensive devices on Windows 8. Why aren't any of them trying to make cheap Android laptops?
Here is a mystery to you ...
')
Microsoft OEMs who create Windows PCs choose an approach to developing their products in which they simply mold something and throw it into the market. Calculation and prudence while they care no more than a camel with diarrhea cares where his cake falls.
They will throw anything on the market if it seems to them that they can make money on it.
If we see that it is technically easier to produce Android laptops, then why nobody does it? Why do they keep dumping complex (and expensive) Windows hybrids?
If they want to revive their sales, then throwing out inexpensive Android laptops might be a more reasonable step.
The recent announcement of Samsung ATIV Q made me think about it. This is a hybrid on Windows 8, which also works on Android. Double-click on the mechanical Start button on the device, and you will see a full-featured copy of Jelly Bean.
Imagine that you need to tell this news to Steve Ballmer so that it does not explode. One of its key OEM partners, a company that is so successful in shipping Android devices, that it might even appear that Google created Android as a personal service for Samsung financiers, unfolds and says, “We’re not sure about your new vision for Windows, we’re give our customers Android. "
The only safe way to do this is to take Steve to a soundproof bunker in the depths of the campus, fill him with two or three hundred particularly cute kittens and bunnies and spend a week or so giving him the news piece by piece, slowly and carefully.
Intel wants Android to look good on x86. For example, the 10 "Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 will work on the Intel Atom processor . The last thing Intel would like to stay behind Android. I am sure they are delighted that the ATIV Q with Android and Intel on board will conduct reconnaissance in the territory of Windows .
We know that you can get a decent enough Chromebook on x86 or ARM for only $ 250. We also know that the Chromebook problem is in their internet addiction and this makes them very limited. Make the same device, but that it loads Android, instead of Chrome OS does not look too complicated.
Yes, but the Android operating system is designed for touchscreens and single-tasking (one task at a time), while Windows and Chrome OS for the traditional WIMP interface.
It can be fixed. There is a classic open source project in the form of Android-x86 . Intel also has a project called Android on the Intel architecture ( Android-IA ). Both allow you to download convenient for laptop versions of Android.
Android is already coming to traditional PCs - this was already discussed by my colleague, John Morris .
One of the problems with this approach may be in gaining access to Google Play services. Android itself is a normal, open source operating system, and people can do anything (more or less) with it, anything. However, to bind an Android device to Google Play services, companies must join the Android Compatibilty Program. Have a look at this page and you will find the following sentence:
That is, despite the fact that the operating system you get for free, the question whether the device will be something that can be sold, the last word rests with Google. In emerging markets, a device without Google Play is almost useless.
In this way, Google can say no to anyone who wants to create an Android laptop. Considering that Google is striving to sell its Chromebook as part of its laptop replacement strategy, it’s hard for me to believe that they will step over themselves so that the dream of Android laptops will come true for some of their partners.
So how to get around the Google Play problem?
One solution could be an embedded application store from the vendor itself. Today, the only big enough vendor of Android devices to do this is Samsung. It is very strange that Samsung has not done it so far, watching as any of their investments in Android devices flow straight into Google. This is actually not what Samsung needs.
But whatever the reason, Samsung did not. And I can imagine not so many events that would have put the Google management team on a plane to Korea faster than the news that Samsung stops shipping Google Play. (The above-mentioned ATIV Q incidentally has Google Play.)
Another way to bring Android laptops to market would be Amazon’s creation of the Kindle Fire line of laptops. This is a slightly more obvious way, considering that Amazon has two important pieces of the puzzle for this.
First, an Amazon app store of sufficient size already exists to satisfy the market. In September 2012, Laptop Magazine reported that Amazon offers 50,000 apps, compared with 600,000 Google Play apps.
Secondly, Amazon has already proven that it can produce, deliver, and market its devices. Diluting the Fire tablet lineup with a laptop — it would seem that it would reasonably fit into their existing strategy.
Even if Amazon were not interested in manufacturing laptops themselves, allowing manufacturers to preinstall the Amazon app store on their devices could be an interesting idea.
I tried using an Android laptop using a virtual machine and AndroVM , and it worked quite well. Here is a screenshot of Evernote running on Android Jelly Bean in VMware Fusion on OS X. Pay attention to the cursor.
Android running on my MacBook in VMware Fusion. On an Evernote image that I downloaded from the Amazon Appstore. (Google Play is not installed in AndroVM.)
The question is: will anyone do this seriously?
Than Chromebook conquers the market, so it is simplicity and low cost. We know that PC users have a need for “very cheap” - this is confirmed by the fall in average selling prices. We also know that they are not very interested in the “complex”, as evidenced by the fact that after nine months Windows 8 did not become a “must have” product.
I am sure that now there is a good opportunity for someone to go out and reshape the market for low-end laptops using laptops on Android.
Summary: PC OEMs seem obsessed with building sophisticated, expensive devices on Windows 8. Why aren't any of them trying to make cheap Android laptops?
Here is a mystery to you ...
')
Microsoft OEMs who create Windows PCs choose an approach to developing their products in which they simply mold something and throw it into the market. Calculation and prudence while they care no more than a camel with diarrhea cares where his cake falls.
They will throw anything on the market if it seems to them that they can make money on it.
If we see that it is technically easier to produce Android laptops, then why nobody does it? Why do they keep dumping complex (and expensive) Windows hybrids?
If they want to revive their sales, then throwing out inexpensive Android laptops might be a more reasonable step.
Samsung
The recent announcement of Samsung ATIV Q made me think about it. This is a hybrid on Windows 8, which also works on Android. Double-click on the mechanical Start button on the device, and you will see a full-featured copy of Jelly Bean.
Imagine that you need to tell this news to Steve Ballmer so that it does not explode. One of its key OEM partners, a company that is so successful in shipping Android devices, that it might even appear that Google created Android as a personal service for Samsung financiers, unfolds and says, “We’re not sure about your new vision for Windows, we’re give our customers Android. "
The only safe way to do this is to take Steve to a soundproof bunker in the depths of the campus, fill him with two or three hundred particularly cute kittens and bunnies and spend a week or so giving him the news piece by piece, slowly and carefully.
Intel wants Android to look good on x86. For example, the 10 "Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 will work on the Intel Atom processor . The last thing Intel would like to stay behind Android. I am sure they are delighted that the ATIV Q with Android and Intel on board will conduct reconnaissance in the territory of Windows .
We know that you can get a decent enough Chromebook on x86 or ARM for only $ 250. We also know that the Chromebook problem is in their internet addiction and this makes them very limited. Make the same device, but that it loads Android, instead of Chrome OS does not look too complicated.
Yes, but the Android operating system is designed for touchscreens and single-tasking (one task at a time), while Windows and Chrome OS for the traditional WIMP interface.
It can be fixed. There is a classic open source project in the form of Android-x86 . Intel also has a project called Android on the Intel architecture ( Android-IA ). Both allow you to download convenient for laptop versions of Android.
Android is already coming to traditional PCs - this was already discussed by my colleague, John Morris .
Amazon
One of the problems with this approach may be in gaining access to Google Play services. Android itself is a normal, open source operating system, and people can do anything (more or less) with it, anything. However, to bind an Android device to Google Play services, companies must join the Android Compatibilty Program. Have a look at this page and you will find the following sentence:
“When you create a compatible device, you may want to connect it to Google Play to provide your users access to the ecosystem of applications. Unfortunately, for a number of legal and business reasons, we cannot automatically license Google Play for all compatible devices. You can contact us to request access to Google Play. ”
That is, despite the fact that the operating system you get for free, the question whether the device will be something that can be sold, the last word rests with Google. In emerging markets, a device without Google Play is almost useless.
In this way, Google can say no to anyone who wants to create an Android laptop. Considering that Google is striving to sell its Chromebook as part of its laptop replacement strategy, it’s hard for me to believe that they will step over themselves so that the dream of Android laptops will come true for some of their partners.
So how to get around the Google Play problem?
One solution could be an embedded application store from the vendor itself. Today, the only big enough vendor of Android devices to do this is Samsung. It is very strange that Samsung has not done it so far, watching as any of their investments in Android devices flow straight into Google. This is actually not what Samsung needs.
But whatever the reason, Samsung did not. And I can imagine not so many events that would have put the Google management team on a plane to Korea faster than the news that Samsung stops shipping Google Play. (The above-mentioned ATIV Q incidentally has Google Play.)
Another way to bring Android laptops to market would be Amazon’s creation of the Kindle Fire line of laptops. This is a slightly more obvious way, considering that Amazon has two important pieces of the puzzle for this.
First, an Amazon app store of sufficient size already exists to satisfy the market. In September 2012, Laptop Magazine reported that Amazon offers 50,000 apps, compared with 600,000 Google Play apps.
Secondly, Amazon has already proven that it can produce, deliver, and market its devices. Diluting the Fire tablet lineup with a laptop — it would seem that it would reasonably fit into their existing strategy.
Even if Amazon were not interested in manufacturing laptops themselves, allowing manufacturers to preinstall the Amazon app store on their devices could be an interesting idea.
I tried using an Android laptop using a virtual machine and AndroVM , and it worked quite well. Here is a screenshot of Evernote running on Android Jelly Bean in VMware Fusion on OS X. Pay attention to the cursor.
Android running on my MacBook in VMware Fusion. On an Evernote image that I downloaded from the Amazon Appstore. (Google Play is not installed in AndroVM.)
Conclusion
The question is: will anyone do this seriously?
Than Chromebook conquers the market, so it is simplicity and low cost. We know that PC users have a need for “very cheap” - this is confirmed by the fall in average selling prices. We also know that they are not very interested in the “complex”, as evidenced by the fact that after nine months Windows 8 did not become a “must have” product.
I am sure that now there is a good opportunity for someone to go out and reshape the market for low-end laptops using laptops on Android.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/193230/
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