Can Google Swallow Apple? (Google is going after the iPad market)

Seeking Alpha ^ | 05/13/2010 | John Lounsbury

[SeekAndFind]

Verizon (VZ) has revealed to The Wall Street Journal that it is working with Google (GOOG) to develop an Apple (AAPL) iPad competitor on Google's Android platform. The source of the information is probably reliable: Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. All this comes from Clint Boulton writing at eWEEK.com. The revelation by McAdam comes as confirmation of a New York Times report last month that Google was working on a tablet device. According to eWEEK, Google has yet to comment on the story.

The news about Google going after the iPad market follows Google's Droid phones surging ahead of iPhones in the smart phone market. Gannett News Service (Chicago Sun-Times) reported yesterday (May 11) that Droids had 28% of the market in the first quarter, ahead of iPhone's 21%. Both trailed Blackberry (RIMM) which continued to lead the category with 36% of sales. Gannett indicates the data quoted comes from market research by NPD Group.

This is not the first time that Apple has been challenged by a new arrival. Last fall the Palm Pre was touted as an iPhone killer but it has dropped out of the top four smart phone suppliers, as HTC has moved into fourth position. HTC is traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Fading Palm has agreed to be acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

So it's way too early to think that Google can have Apple for lunch. To consider it even reasonable to consider, Google needs to grow some more. The market capitalization of Apple ($233 billion) is 44% larger than Google.

-- John B. Lounsbury Ph.D., CFP is a financial planner and investment advisor in Clayton, NC.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

And the regime leader's attacks on Apple & Microsoft continue to make sense

[dfwgator]

"Hey Apple! Apple! Hey! Hey Apple! Hey! Apple! Hey Apple!"

[Hodar]

Good luck!! I’ve got the 64 Gig iPad and think it’s fantastic. Performance-wise - it sets the bar pretty darn high. But performance it only a part of the equation.

My battery give me around 11-12 hours of acutal usage between between charges - and that includes both video and surfing the net.

[SeekAndFind]

How do you access sites with video that uses ADOBE FLASH ? (e.g. YOUTUBE ).

[The_Victor]

Google may capture some part of the market, but Apple's customer loyalty is such that competition from Google will never cause the iPad to lose profitability.

[ctdonath2]

Google is about to learn a very hard lesson: companies who stray from their core goal fail.

Google’s core goal is to gather information to market better ads. If they build a gPad which does this, without detracting from their other info gathering activities, they can win. But if they start cutting off info gathering sources, like giving Apple a reason to dump Google Search and Google Maps from the iP* platform, they will fail.

Apple’s core goal is to sell hardware via an awesome customer experience. They know hardware, Google doesn’t.

[Airwinger]

YouTube pays fine on my little ole iTouch,, don’t need Flash.

[Thurston_Howell_III]

Steve-o and hit motley crew were boycotting Glenn Beck not too long ago, why any conservative would choose an Apple product is beyond me.

[D-fendr]

Hardware’s important, but I think it is the OS and GUI where Google will not be able to compete well against Apple.

[kevkrom]

How do you access sites with video that uses ADOBE FLASH ? (e.g. YOUTUBE ).

YouTube and most other major video site (Hulu being a major exception) offer both Flash and H.264.

[ctdonath2]

Don’t.

Many sites are fast moving from Flash to HTML5 to support iPad.

YouTube support is built into the iPad.

[jrg]

why any conservative would choose an Apple product is beyond me.

Because Micro-suck products are useless.

[ctdonath2]

You miss my point: if Google loses sight of data gathering to sell ads, they will fail.

[Thurston_Howell_III]

Rush gets paid to use and endorse Apple products, that makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why any other conservative would use them.

[kevkrom]

why any conservative would choose an Apple product is beyond me.

And the other options are better from the "political correctness" point of view? Neither Microsoft nor Google are particularly noted as being conservative, and for good reason.

[Mr. Blonde]

Are you sure about that with Rush?

And Apple products fit my needs better than any alternative and the options when trying to buy electronics from conservative companies are pretty thin.

[ctdonath2]

To stay consistent with that principle would require withdrawing from society almost entirely.

I’m not going to not buy a useful product because the seller won’t advertise on a tv channel I don’t watch (ie I just don’t watch tv).

[jrg]

Rush gets paid to use and endorse Apple products, that makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why any other conservative would use them.

Because they are light years ahead of Microsoft
Because their products are good and work
Because Bill Gates is just as left wing

[pblax8]

The OS????
Apples OS aka MacOS is hardly competitive to Microsoft Windows. Nvver made it.

As for Google and Verizon beating Apple well I’ll wait and see but if the Droid phone is any indication then Apples will be falling from the tree.

Apple has historically been an innovative leader in the technology market only to cede that leadership quickly as they did with their first PCs in the late 80’s early 90’s.

I’m not sure of the fate of Apple without Steve Jobs too. He had to ressurect the almost dead company. Hes done an amazing job (no pun intended) but his health is questionable.