Google competes in the smartphone market by letting manufacturers customize the Android system for their hardware. T-Mobile introduced the first phone powered by Android software, made by HTC Corp., in October 2008, more than a year after Apple’s iPhone debuted.
Android led the global smartphone industry in the third quarter, with 53 percent of the market, according to Gartner. Apple’s iPhone software had 15 percent.
Still, Google may have a harder time narrowing Apple’s music lead, given the longer head start and how established iTunes has become. ITunes customers have downloaded 16 billion songs.
“They have to overcome the No. 1 incumbent in this area,” said Mark Little, an analyst at research firm Ovum in London. “That’s not an easy company to grab share from.”
Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, offers MP3 song downloads from the major labels with a service that began with a public test in 2007. Amazon also unveiled a storage service for users earlier this year.
Spotify’s Service
Music provider Spotify, helped by its partnership with leading social-networking service Facebook, is emerging as another online-music alternative. Since its start in the U.S. in July, Spotify has grown to about 2 million subscribers who pay $5 to $10 per month for a premium service, according to Ken Parks, chief content officer for the London-based company.
Even if it takes a while for Google to secure an agreement with Warner, whose artists include Green Day and Madonna, the company’s reach on the Web may help it succeed. Google’s network of websites had the most visitors worldwide in September with 1.1 billion, according to ComScore Inc. Microsoft Corp. sites had 914 million, and Facebook was No. 3 with 770 million.
“I doubt they’ll meet with immediate success,” Ray Valdes, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in San Jose, California. “If they fail, it will take a while for that to become evident because they have enough presence to make at least slow progress for some time.”
Android led the global smartphone industry in the third quarter, with 53 percent of the market, according to Gartner. Apple’s iPhone software had 15 percent.
Still, Google may have a harder time narrowing Apple’s music lead, given the longer head start and how established iTunes has become. ITunes customers have downloaded 16 billion songs.
“They have to overcome the No. 1 incumbent in this area,” said Mark Little, an analyst at research firm Ovum in London. “That’s not an easy company to grab share from.”
Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, offers MP3 song downloads from the major labels with a service that began with a public test in 2007. Amazon also unveiled a storage service for users earlier this year.
Spotify’s Service
Music provider Spotify, helped by its partnership with leading social-networking service Facebook, is emerging as another online-music alternative. Since its start in the U.S. in July, Spotify has grown to about 2 million subscribers who pay $5 to $10 per month for a premium service, according to Ken Parks, chief content officer for the London-based company.
Even if it takes a while for Google to secure an agreement with Warner, whose artists include Green Day and Madonna, the company’s reach on the Web may help it succeed. Google’s network of websites had the most visitors worldwide in September with 1.1 billion, according to ComScore Inc. Microsoft Corp. sites had 914 million, and Facebook was No. 3 with 770 million.
“I doubt they’ll meet with immediate success,” Ray Valdes, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in San Jose, California. “If they fail, it will take a while for that to become evident because they have enough presence to make at least slow progress for some time.”
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