apple, google and microsoft battle for internet experience

Apple, Google, and Microsoft Battle for your Internet Experience CASE 3.3

1 MBA_Batch2_UMK_Kch/M7/GST5803/Information System and E-Commerce/GROUP 3

CASE STUDY 3.2

1. Compare the business models and areas of strength of Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

APPLE : It has the basis of creating a very strong hardware base for the internet future

and thus logically they play their role in this battle by laying emphasis on the hardware

that facilitates mobile computing. Apple has gone into the stance that applications, one

of the major earners for tablet and phone manufacturers, should be device restricted.

For example, one application should be unique to the brand of the device and should be

allowed to function in another device from another separate brand. They even stopped

Google in its plans to allow Google applications to work on Apple products. Thus by

doing this Apple is trying to capitalize on their loyal customer base and create a Apple

weds Apple scenario.

GOOGLE : Google is the believer in the concept that in the future the devices used to

run the applications and other internet options should be a fraction of what they are

being charged now and instead the revenues generated should be from the in-app

advertisements. Google even bought AdMob, an application advertisements

development company, to work on such a concept. This future, Google and Microsoft

have tried their hand at going hardware friendly but they still do not put the same

emphasis on the hardware as Apple.

MICROSOFT : Microsoft has laid its bet on the operating system on which the mobile

computing devices shall run. Microsoft also has announced plans to develop the

hardware for mobile computing, something it has not done so far, and thus has entered

into the field of both Google and Apple. By integrating the hardware and software deal

Microsoft has actually change the dynamics of the whole market. And this can be

problem some for Google and Apple as they shall have to change their own perspective

and outlook towards the level of competition that they shall have to face in the coming

years in mobile computing.



2. Why is mobile computing so important to these three firms? Evaluate the mobile

platform offerings of each firm.

Mobile computing is basically doing the activities which involve internet without being

fixed to a particular place. The importance of mobile computing for all the three

mentioned firms which is Apple , Google and Microsoft as it is the future of the internet

technology and for these firms to flourish and expand they need to be very effective

with mobile computing.

APPLE: The mobile platform that Apple provides with its products is “iOS” (Kevin

K, 2012). This mobile platform is the closed platform that is it is applicable for apple

products and only apple apps could work on this. Some of the remarkable features

amongst them are:

(i) There is an option over which you can reply later on the calls which you can’t

take immediately.

(ii) Integration with the facebook over which you can share all you iPhone activities

(iii) There is a passbook app through which you can use you iPhone as a credit card.

(iv) There is also an up gradation of the apple maps app which is very impressive.

GOOGLE: The mobile platform that Google provides is “Android”. This mobile

platform is a universal platform or you can say it’s an open platform when compared to

the mobile platform offered by Apple. The latest version provided by the Android

software is the version 4.1 “jelly bean” (Android, 2012). Some of the notable features

of this version are:

(i) A simple screen swipe would provide you with search results related to Google.

(ii) The voice recognition tool in this version would rub offline.

(iii) Another of the new feature is GOOGLE NOW in which the preferences are

chosen based on the data like the time location and personal history and over

this the search results are provided

MICROSOFT

Microsoft is entering this market recently by launching the tablet named “Surface

tablet”. The mobile platform that Microsoft is offering is the Windows Phone 8(Kevin

K, 2012). This operating system will be compatible with the laptops and the desktops.

Some of the unique features of this operating system are:

(i) Support dual core chips

(ii) Support multiple screen resolution

(iii) Provides advanced map technology

(iv) Offers Passbook wallet.



3. What is the significance of mobile applications app stores, and closed vs. open app

standards to the success or failure of mobile computing?

Any computer software that performs specific tasks is called Applications (Bovee 2012,

p 256). They can range from large business computer programs such as “Sun Systems”

for processing large accounting problems to a simple program that can be used to order

something as simple as a pizza, in today’s world applications have become a part and

parcel of the day today.

Today’s mobile and tablet users are becoming more and more inclined towards a

product which has more number of application than the other product option. Although

it can be said that such a thing has happened because of the fact that the devices today

have become so specified that a certain range of products shall have the same specs

regardless of their make. This change can be determined as a major shift in the

consumer psyche and even the big three have not underestimated this change.

The development of applications and software’s to match these expectations is a task

that all the companies in the fray to be the leader in the mobile computing market,

wither it be Apple, Google, Microsoft or any other new player, shall have to look into

great detail and precision.

The importance of mobile applications can be justified on this basis itself that Google

has based their future growth prediction on the very same. Mobile applications have

such a great scope of growth in the future that they can one day eclipse the sales of the

hardware part of mobile computing and form a major market themselves here players

like Google and apple shall have tough competition even from small fray players if a

common platform for application usage is formed, the very same reason why Apple is

resisting Google’s repeated efforts for a common mobile platform.

According to experts (Kevin, Timothy et.al) mobile applications are even today a big

part of the on the go access market. Finish mobile giant Nokia too has a say in the

application future as it still has the lion’s share in the applications that are used in its

mobile phones, which in spite of the recent drop are a very big number. Applications

and app stores are also being viewed as a source of major entertainment by many users

of mobile computing devices, with games like angry birds and temple run taking the

market by storm it is very evident that applications and app stores are a thing for the

future.

Lastly it can be said that although all three firms have great opportunity in the market

which is still young and in its infancy, the first mover shall have very definitive

advantage to take control of this veritable goldmine.



4. Which company and business model do you think will prevail in this epic struggle?

Explain your answer.

If we consider the three business model that are capable of being the foundation of

multibillion-dollar business, consumer devices, ad-supported consumer services and

business software as a service, Google had just about maximized their potential in the

ad-supported consumer services model and will more likely to achieve success than it’s

two competitors Apple and Microsoft.

Google is the search engine giant that has a lot of positives going for it rather than the

negatives. The clear positives that can make it a winner are:

(1) A well-established name is something which not a lot of players can boast of but

Google is one of them, although Apple and Microsoft have chartered territories of their

own but Google can fight them out both as an equal if not better.

(2) The Company has entered into all the three basic markets of mobile computing

including hardware, operating system and the application stores. Their hardware is

something which a few competitors can best, however the Android operating system

has taken the market by storm and the app store which comes with it is a mean bully in

itself (Android 2012)

(3) Google has also bet on of the most time relevant feature of the mobile computing

market, the App store, and this is the biggest advantage which the Google business

model gives it and makes it the prime contender for the number one position. With

hundreds of applications already online and hundreds more in the development stage

Google has started to take a sort of lead on the other players in the race to be number

one. And this may not be decisive right now but with Google’s recent acquisition of

application developers and their heavy R&D expenditure on the same, it is just a matter

of time before it will take out companies like Apple and Microsoft. (Android 2012)

Although the Google bandwagon is on its way there are certain roadblocks that it can

face that can halt its march and some of them are:

(i) The Google brand is big but it still lacks the appeal of an Apple product and this

many say is one of the most major difference between the two.

(ii) The Android system although perfected to a large extent still has a few errors in

the new versions that can hamper the growth of the operating system and this

where a competitor like Microsoft can prevail over the Company

(iii) Lastly it can be said that Google’s move towards a common mobile application

platform can itself backfire and could increase competition from local app

players which can affect the overall profitability from this step.

Thus it can be said that Google does have a lot of positives that can help it in the market

and if it can take care of the negatives and maybe tweak the one platform stance, it can

just pull ahead of Apple and Microsoft in this battle of the behemoths.



5. What difference would it make to a business or an individual consumer if Apple,

Google, or Microsoft dominated the Internet experience? Explain your answer.

A great number of Internet users today were not raise with computers. Apple, Google

and Microsoft are locked in the battle to dominate the internet and especially the

fastest-growing part of it – mobile. All three have fought each other in previous wars,

and now they want to dominate search technology, cloud computing, mobile music and

the Smartphone market. Whoever wins will exert a wide ranging control over user data

and access to content, and even how we use and interact with computers.

In consumer part, they would be forced to buy only one product and use only one

service. They would create a monopoly and the positive would be they would create a

standard. This would affect quality; prices would be as high as possible because they

would have no competition. No competition means nobody could force a monopolist

from the outside to improve products, diversify rang or products and lower price. Right

now it is too early to tell who would dominate the internet experience but it is good to

have competition than just one market leader.

Digital Wars assesses who will be the victor and what the implications are for business,

individuals and society. It also tell us what to expect from the internet in the future,

which company will ultimately be in the driving seat, and what the implications will be

for us all.

apple, google and microsoft battle for internet experience

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