Android arrives

In mid-2008, another threat emerged: Android. Three years earlier, Google had acquired the company and pushed it into becoming a functional and well-designed mobile operating system.

Image: androidprototype Caption: The first prototype of a Google Android phone looked like a competitor to RIM BlackBerry, not the iPhone—it did not have touch controls at all, only keys. It is no wonder that Steve Jobs was angry with Google.

In 2008, manufacturers still need to be persuaded to give the system a chance, as the early versions are still… early – which is evident when compared to the early versions of the iPhone, but not so obvious when compared to Symbian. But Google has a clear goal and a vision of how to achieve it. It launches its first phones through T-Mobile, then opensources the system to other manufacturers who join in. Android breaks records for speed of market entry, selling eleven million phones per quarter within a year of launch.

Customers had to wait until September 2009 for the first truly competitive version, 1.6 Donut, and it was version 2.1 Eclair, which arrived in October 2009, that hit the mark: stability and user-friendliness with enough features that Nokia had nothing convincing to offer in comparison.

Nokia shares began to decline in 2008, which the company attributed to the global crisis that was just beginning. The truth is that the decline in its shares mirrored the stock market indices until mid-2009. However, the decline also mirrored the decline in Nokia’s revenues. In mid-2009, stock market indices continued their upward trend, which had lasted several weeks, but Nokia stagnated and even declined. It was already clear that the company did not know the way forward. It had no answer to touchscreen phones, and the harder it tried, the more it forgot about the rest of its portfolio.

The context of this story

Android arrives

Table of contents