An attendee poses for a photo next to Android characters during Google I/O 2016 at Shoreline Amphitheatre on May 19, 2016 in Mountain View, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Justin Sullivan)
Tech giant Google is planning to enter the smartphone industry with its own-branded phone. The release of Google handset is expected to stir the smartphone market by letting the company have direct control over mobile software and compete with other other leading Samsung and Apple phones.
Google is expected to launch its own smartphone by the end of 2016, The Telegraph reports. The company is currently busy holding discussions with mobile operator about the release of the Google-branded phone. The launch of the phone will extend the reach of the company into hardware.
The company already owns the Android operating system that runs in four out of five smartphone devices around the world. In addition, it endorses several phones made by electronics partner such as Huawei and LG, under the brand name Google Nexus.
However, it does not have a smartphone branded under its own name. Unlike other companies such as Apple, Google relies on different companies, including Samsung, to manufacture smartphone for it. On the other hand, Google itself just focuses on the development of free software that run on its phone that are manufactured by other companies.
The new device is expected to extend Google's control over design, software and manufacturing. It will allow the company to secure the future of several services, including Google Play app store and Google search engine that run on its phones.
This is an absolute necessity, especially considering the time frame that a customer using Android phone has to wait for updates and the ability of some manufacturers to put down Google's own internet services that are included in Android phones.
Even though a majority of smartphones around the world uses Android OS, Apple's iPhone still dominates the lucrative end of the business. Google's decision to launch its own-branded phone is expected to make a shift in the industry.
"They are concerned that Android is fragmenting, that it needs to become a more controlled platform," Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, told the publication. "I think they'll seek to control it more, more like Apple."
Sundar Pichai, Google's chief executive told Walt Mossberg in an interview in May 2016 that Google is investing more efforts into phones. However, he said that the company would continue to offer support to its Google-backed Nexus phones. In fact, the company is planning to collaborate with other manufacturers as well.
The following video talks about Google's Project Ara:
