GOOGLE’S ATTEMPTS TO TAKE ON MICROSOFT AND APPLE AND DOMINATE THE PHONE INDUSTRY

With over 1.17 billion users, Google is undoubtedly a very successful search engine, and therefore Google, as a business is also very successful, not to mention very skilled at what they do. But like any successful business, Google wants more; and in this scenario it wants to channel more of its efforts into the telecoms industry. Since the launch of the Google Pixel, there have been contradictions from devoted Apple fans on how the conglomerate will ever keep up. However after selling over 3.9 million phones in 2017 it’s safe to say the Google seem to have a tight handle on the situation.

Knowing that competitors like Bing and Ask Jeeves are more than under control, Google now faces two of the most successful businesses in the world; Microsoft and their android phones and Apple and their iPhones. One of the biggest pieces of criticism was the lack in quality of various features on the Pixel, so people basically felt like the phone wasn’t worth the money.

The Pixel was far from being hailed a failure, however Google knows it could have done better. In order to get back on track, more recently Google has moved away from hardware and back to software, developing a new app to try and organise its consumer’s lives.Maybe on this occasion they will have more luck, considering its fame and fortune as a search engine, highlighting their ability to collate present and organise information. So it is more than appropriate that the type of product they want to develop is related to ‘office productivity apps’.

Google has released two apps previously which weren’t very popular; with Google Reminders, you need not strain to remember things you have arranged or when they are happening and if there is a piece of information you need to write down, Google Keep is a way to take and keep notes. It could be considered that these Reminders and Keep apps were Google’s latest organisation app’s predecessors, and can also be measured warnings of what could happen if Google doesn’t get it right this time around.

Google’s new app is called Tasks and includes categories and subcategories to keep track of a person’s life essentially. Google Tasks is the company’s attempt to make a better app with a more simplistic and therefore effective layout. Taking a leaf out of the way it organises information on its popular search engine platform; simply, clearly and easy to understand.

In conclusion, Google’s previous attempts of taking over the phone industry haven’t been very successful. However, a positive way that Google could look at its situation is that even though they are struggling to take over the phone industry, they still dominate the search engine field so if Apple or Microsoft were to try their hand at making a search engine, the two successful businesses would struggle. It’s hard to be successful in a field you are unfamiliar with, so naturally it would take a few tries to get it right. But with their latest attempt with Tasks, Google do stand a fighting chance for a number of reasons, they have Apple and Microsoft’s backing by allowing Tasks to be used on their devices. They are playing to their strengths; organising information. They could even turn the failure of their previous apps into a positive; at least now they know how not to make a successful app.

Google and applications
https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/25/17277676/google-tasks-app-ios-android-mobile

Pixel’s failure
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2018/04/25/google-ceo-omits-pixel-smartphones-in-earnings-call-heres-why/#294a344a766e

Google’s new apps
https://www.wired.com/story/google-tasks-app/

Google Keep information
https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/googles-new-standalone-tasks-app-helps-capture-edit-and-sync-tasks-across-devices-4446485.html

Released with new Gmail and new Google Calendar
https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/25/google-debuts-a-standalone-to-do-app-google-tasks/

Google Pixel information
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/13/17007104/google-pixel-total-sales-idc-statistics