Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said today that about 200,000 new Android devices are now being sold daily, leading to huge growth in revenue for the search giant thanks to mobile search traffic.
When asked about the recent studies showing Android outpacing the iPhone handily, Schmidt added: “People are finally beginning to figure out how successful Android is. The number was about 100,000 (a day) about two months ago. It looks like Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate. God knows how long that will continue.”
While Google does not directly gain revenue from Android (which is free and open source), the more successful the operating system is, the more people are connected to the Web from their mobile phones, leading to an increase in search.
“Trust me that revenue is large enough to pay for all of Android’s activities and a whole bunch more,” Schmidt added, via Cnet. “I should also say that we love the success of the iPhone because the iPhone also uses Google’s search and we get a chunk of that revenue when people search on the iPhone.”
Schmidt was also asked about the upcoming Chrome OS to which he responded: “Maybe we can get the same success out of Chrome OS (as Android). Chrome OS is targeted at a different part of the market.”
The first Chrome OS netbooks will hit in November.
Result for: netbooks
During his company’s latest quarterly earnings conference call, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke about the company’s plans for tablets in the near future, but remained very scant on the details.
The company posted its best quarter ever last week, but has been openly criticized for its lack of strategy in the tablet market, as well as in other consumer businesses.
When asked specifically about tablets, Ballmer said Windows has been available on tablets and slates for years, with constant sales. However, none of Microsoft’s devices have ever come close to the buzz created by Apple’s iPad.
“Apple has done an interesting job of putting together a product,” Ballmer said, admitting that “they’ve certainly sold more than I’d like them to sell.”
“For us, the job is to say we have a lot of [intellectual property] and software and we’ve done a lot of work on ink and touch,” he continued, via PCW. “We have got to make things happen. Just like we had to make things happen on netbooks, we have to with Windows 7 on slates. We’re in the process of doing that as we speak.”
Without giving more details, he concluded: “We’ve got to push right now with our hardware partners. People will say, ‘When?’ I’ll say, ‘As soon as they are ready, and it is job-one urgency.’ Nobody is sleeping at the switch.”
Any timetable for a new tablet release? They “will be out in not a heck of a long time.”
Result for: netbooks
Despite saying they would “double down” on WebOS, it appears HP has been laying off numerous Palm staffers over the past few weeks.
Says a now former-Palm staff member, speaking to Barron’s:
“We were given our exit envelope Tuesday morning. Our badges stopped working and we were removed from the computer network at 2:00pm that day.
On Thursday, June 17th, those at the working level who were going to be kept, were given “welcome to HP” letters. On Friday June 18th, those of us who were subsequently let go, were given a succinct letter that stated in part “the company is determining whether there is an appropriate role for you once the acquisition with HP is completed. Our expectation is that a final decision will be made and communicated to you the week of June 21st.” We were however told nothing about our status during the week of June 21st, nor Monday June 28th. Adding to this, during the week of June 21st, at a WebOS team meeting, attendees were told that there were 33 current open positions and that the plan was to grow the team by over 100 during the next year.”
After inquiries, HP responded: “Part of the integration strategy is consolidation of functions and operations, as appropriate. There always is turnover in organizations. Palm employees overall are enthusiastic about having the financial stability and global scale necessary to complete their vision.”
Earlier in the week, HP completed their acquisition of Palm, while at the same time confirming WebOS-based tablets, smartphones and netbooks coming in the future.
