10 Challenges that Google's Android Platform Faces In the Next 12 Months

5. Developer backlash : Compatibility and Open Source

Google Android is said to be opened (as in open source) but not as opened as some would like. For example, its implementation of Java is not standard as it uses the Apache Harmony Java implementation rather than Sun Microsystems Java SE and ME. The fact that Google doesn't embrace Open Source fully could mean that some developers could see Google's Mobile venture with suspicion, especially as the search giant promised that Android would be fully open sourced. The challenge will be to get the Android marketplace up, running and thriving in record time. Google has offered USD 10 million as prizes and while Android SDK v1.0 has just been released, it is highly unlikely that it becomes as popular as Apple's Apps Store. Open source proponents could also soon add Google to their list of untrusted parties as Chrome and Android take on Firefox and Linux respectively and threatens to divert precious resources from elsewhere.

6. The Competition is looming

Forget Apple and the iPhone for once, the real competitors are RIM, Microsoft and Nokia. The latter dominates the smartphone market with Symbian S60 and could decide to invest massively in research and development to get that decisive "paradigm shift" which would bring Nokia smartphones to the next level. Apple has invested USD 150 million in the development of the iPhone and Nokia could easily match that sum should it want to do so. Microsoft can't afford to lose the battle for the mobile market. After all, there are 3 billion mobile phones out there waiting to be converted to smartphones and if Google manages to grab even a single digit market adoption, that could translate into billions of advertising and affiliate revenue dollars. As for RIM, expect it to be even more fearsome as it tackles four concurrent potential threats to its core business.

7. Google's Distractions

Chances are that other projects could prove a distraction for Google, especially if Android and the OHA prove to be more than a handful for the search engine giant as it tries to manage its 34 partners. Having fingers in too many pies can stretch companies as big as Google rather thinly. With a resurgent Microsoft and a looming recession which could have calamitous consequences for its share prices and ad revenues, Google will have to stay focus on achieving the single most important goal for Android. Putting search (and advertising) literally in the hands of users.