The Empire State Building, The Sears Tower, The Great Wall of China. What do these things have in common? They are all BIG! What does Google think the next big thing is? The Android OS, according to an interview Google CEO Eric Schmidt had with the Wall Street Journal. Schmidt commented during the interview that Google has positioned itself to earn $10 billion or more per year in the mobile device business, thanks to the Android OS.
As it stands now, Google is giving the Android OS away for free to device makers who in turn are using it to power some of the greatest phones to hit the market. This is where Google has it right. They have it all figured out. They are thinking ahead. Currently Android devices are growing at a rate of 160,000 new activations a day. This ensures that Google’s search, maps and other ad driven services live on while users continue to switch to mobile devices. Schmidt asked, “If we have a billion people using Android, you think we can’t make money from that?” He says all it would take is $10 per user per year.
Think about that statement. 1 billion Android devices. At 160,000 activations a day, it would take Google 17 years to reach 1 billion. But, if you consider all of the new devices, not just phones, that are coming out like tablets, smart books and TV’s that number seems much more reachable. What is exciting to me are some of the other Google services that will be coming out soon. Google Music and Google TV. Google is always on the look out for the next big thing. One thing is for sure; this Android thing is BIG!