Google counters Microsoft-Nokia with a KitKat
Competition for Microsoft-Nokia just got hotter. Or so believe observers of IT and telecom industries.
A day after the $7.2 billion Microsoft-Nokia deal, Google surprised users worldwide with its announcement of KitKat, a new Android 4.4 operating system (OS) named after a chocolate brand of Nestle with which the Internet giant has forged a co-branding tie-up on Wednesday.
It could well be that KitKat the OS is a celebration of either Android crossing the 1 billion activation mark worlwide or Google’s 15th birthday.
But given that KitKat the OS came close on the heels of the Google Nexus 4 handset, experts feel it may have come a skosh prematurely, suggesting Google may be sensing stiff competition from Microsoft-Nokia, said analyst Mohammed Chowdhury of PwC. “With KitKat (the OS), Google is sending out a signal to Microsoft that there will always be a challenge near at hand in the highly competitive market.”
Co-branding with Nestle, which sources said was pulled off secretly during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, will likely provide KitKat the OS ample visibility and consumer recall.
N. Chandramouli, CEO, trust advisory research, Comniscient Communications Group, said, “The KitKat news must have caught the marketing teams of competing brands by surprise, making them to shake in their boots.”
Quite possible, given that more than 50 million specially branded KitKat chocolate bars will announce Android KitKat in 19 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Dubai, Russia, the UK and the US.
The chocolate packs will lead consumers to the website android.com/kitkat where they will have the opportunity to win prizes, including a limited number of Google Nexus 7 tablets, and credits to spend in Google Play, Google’s online store for apps, games, music, movies, books and more.
This could mean that the next eyeball-grabbing Microsoft launch will have to come fast. This is where India and other emerging markets assume significance.
Hemant Joshi of Deloitte said, “In the ongoing battle between Android and non-Android, Android, being the market leader, has the edge. However, Nokia has for long had a dominant market position. In India, Nokia’s price point appeals to the aam aadmi (common man) more than Android. Being price-sensitive, the India market requires Windows and Android handsets to be priced suitably. To begin with, Microsoft’s strategy would be to win back Nokia’s market share.”
According to a report by India Ratings on Wednesday, Microsoft-Nokia deal is likely to promote growth and competition in the under-penetrated smartphone space in India, and could lead to potential price cuts in smartphones – the Lumia series uses Windows 8 system but will no longer be required to pay licensing fee -- and quasi-smartphones like the Asha series, thanks to cost synergies from licensing, patents, intellectual property and R&D capabilities.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com
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