Commentary
Steve Ballmer On Android: 'Blah-De-Blah-De-Blah'
Speaking at an investor meeting in Australia, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said he doesn't get the business model behind Google's Android platform. Some might say the same thing about Windows Mobile at the moment.Speaking at an investor meeting in Australia, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said he doesn't get the business model behind Google's Android platform. Some might say the same thing about Windows Mobile at the moment.Ballmer just has the best quotes. Nobody says the stuff he does in public. At the very least, it provides for some entertainment on an otherwise gray Thursday morning (in the NYC metro area, anyway).
Ballmer was speaking at the Telstra Investor Day conference in Sydney earlier today. Eventually someone brought up Android. Ballmer said, "This is [Google's] first phone, they're not easy. Let's see how they do."
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T-Mobile hasn't reported any hard sales figures of the G1 yet, but there was more than a little excitement about the new device and the new platform. HTC had to triple the number of phones available at launch because of the strong demand for the device. T-Mobile, HTC, and developers of applications in the Android Market stand to make some money, but where does Google fit into the picture here?
Google is giving away the mobile platform for free. Google is not taking any money from revenue generated by the Android Market. How, then, does it plan to make money?
Ballmer, for one, can't figure it out. He said, "[Google] can hire smart guys, hire smart people, blah-de-blah-de-blah. … I don't really understand their strategy, maybe somebody else does. … Turning up to an investor meeting saying, 'We've just launched a mobile operating system with no revenue model, yay!' -- I wouldn't do that. ... I don't get the business model."
Let's look at Windows Mobile for a second. The platform has a clear business model. Microsoft licenses the platform to handset manufacturers, who then make and sell handsets to end users. Microsoft earns money by licensing the software. Google gives Android away for free to anyone. Nokia and the Symbian Foundation are also set to give away the core Symbian software for free. Two of Microsoft's biggest competitors on the mobile platform level will be offering their platforms for free.
Free is the new business model. Can Microsoft afford to be the only one charging to license its OS?
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