I have had really hard time finding a ‘why’ report on Nexus One. Granted that the information available is a bit on the lower side to form any hypothesis about why Google ventured into mobile industry. Still people managed to gather bits about the processor (Snapdragon), platform (Android 2.1) and even the touch screen features of Nexus One without an official release out. So why not let me analyze why Google needed a smartphone at this point of time. The world is moving from computer-based online surfing to handheld devices. This is going to be the trend and innovations thought around this will rule the future. Google has the largest target audience to command.

1. Google Has Already Proved Android As The Windows Mobile Killer- With some of the best phones of 2009 (HTC, Samsung, Verizon Droid etc.) already successfully using Android, Google has killed two birds with a shot- They have a proven platform for their own smartphone, and, they have already proved that Wi Mo is not infact a good choice for next generation mobile devices. This is yet another masterstroke in Google Vs  Microsoft battle, where a successful Nexus One will eventually push Win Mo phones further down the list behind the likes of Nexus One, HTC, and Apple 3GS.
2. Google Wants Chrome To Be The Browser Of Choice- for both computer and mobile based- Are we surprised? Just a few days ago Google started displaying Chrome ads on Google search pages all over the word. Is this a co-incidence that their very first mobile device is coming out while they are putting Chrome in front of millions of their users. I am not sure yet, but Nexus One will be using some kind of Chrome mobile browser, either right away, or in future. Tell me about IE Vs Chrome battle here.
3. Want To Warm The Market For Chrome OS- Well, well, Google’s own OS is going to be out soon. Experts believe that’s the reason why big G has started the Chrome promotion campaigns- to make ‘Chrome’ a household name by the time OS comes out. And if Nexus One has some variant of Chrome, that’ll be the icing on the cake- both the computer-based and mobile-based audiences captured. Should the Windows guys start to worry about this already? I bet they are already on Mars to find a solution to counter this!
4. Next-Gen Technology In Snapdragon+Android- Google seem to be coming out to ruffle the feathers of all the big brands. The Snapdragon association will sure make Intel and Nvidia a bit uneasy. Intel’s Atom and Nividia has been proclaiming that their processor is the thing of future. They have some neat little ‘netbooks’ to point to. But guys, Snapdragon+ Android has already been tipped as the future of next-generation mobile technology.
5. Mobile Application Market- 2009 has been the year of touch screen smartpones and mobile apps. Apple has its own apps store already sold a gazillion apps to Apple users worldwide. This would surely worry me if I have the majority of online users at my command and  I am letting Apple and others leverage all that benefit. Google has built the empire around some fantastic free softwares ( Gmail, Docs, Waves to name a few). Every bit of code that’s used by users lets Google into the lives and psyche of internet population. Makes them so much nearer to Google and addictive to G services. Mobile Apps is a great new opportunity towards that age-old Google expansion strategy. I bet Nexus One will have a hoard of free classy apps to start with.
6. Extended Mobile-Search Market- I know I said five reasons, but in the excitement I can’t stop churning. So here’s the bonus tip why Nexus One is so much more than a phone to Google. With Google’s own platform (Android), own browser, and own apps, wouldn’t it be far easier to manage and organize their search market in the mobile internet user niche. That’s their core business after all and any new product supplementing the core model is a stroke of genius.

Nexus One is a multifaceted personification of Google’s long-term strategy that’s not only going to pave the way for future but also leverage on Google’s astounding brand name to kill competition and surge ever ahead.

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With the arrival of Bing and a search-partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo, the two brands have been seriously planning ways to re-brand themselves. Bing’s expensive marketing campaign is on its way soon too. Looks like they are planning to hit big G from different angles.

Google came up with a ‘next-generation architecture for web-search’. They are not in a hurry to splash on big budget brand campaigns as yet. But you never know, as they say.

Online-Ad spend has risen to 15% of all forms of advertising spend. This is the largest chunk from the mix and has grown even during the recession. Google dominates this. This ever-increasing revenue source is what the three giants are after. More searches, more accurate searches, even more searches, and, even more advertisers (paid search).

• In Yahoo-Microsoft deal, Yahoo allows Bing to do searches. So, yahoo has backed-out from trying to build a better search engine and bring-in more searchers. Even though yahoo gets 88 cents to dollar from Bing at present, what’ the future?




• While Bing tries to perfect its search engine, will yahoo be just trying to work on added services? What happens when Bing becomes as good as (if not better than) Google and decides to leave Yahoo’s search page?




• If Bing and Yahoo are forming a tactical alliance against Google, shouldn’t they be attacking the giant from two different strategic angles? Yahoo has launched the branding campaign with ‘you’-centric message. It remains to be seen what Bing comes up with?




• The most important factor of Yahoo-Bing alliance is their access to user data. Its unclear who gets what level of user info, but they both are set to gain tremendous insights because of the treaty that combines their search traffic stream. If this doesn’t give them an edge in enhancing their search, what will?

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Tom Peters, amongst many agonized American taxpayers, believes that GM will not be paying back  $50 Bn. Simply because they can’t. Tom Peters lost his faith in the largest US auto-maker, believing that they stopped worrying about making the best cars in the world.A vision that made GM number one car-maker in the world.

The debate whether GM should have been given the federal assistance will never subside.Not soon, at least. The manner in which the auto-maker somehow took US government hostage is bizarre. Read this:-

“G.M. used to say that the federal government absolutely had to bailout the struggling firm because if it didn’t, especially in a time of great economic crisis, the affect on the U.S. jobs market would be devastating and America may well see the end of its auto industry because consumers would forever be turned off by a bankrupt firm no matter the success at reorganization.” (Instablogs)

Now, for every one optimist supporting the GM cause, there are ten nearly-cynical realists proclaiming that GM will never be able to pay back the taxpayer’s money.  One of the weblogs quoted the NYT thus-

“We don’t think that after this next $30 billion, they will need more money,” one administration official said. “But the fact is there are things you don’t know — like when the car market will come back, and how much Toyota and Honda and Volkswagen will benefit from the chaos.” (Kausfiles.com)

So, two major factors to decide GM’s future according to the official report are: car-market‘s recovery, and, competitive dis-advantage. Kausfiles explains that this statement merely means that if more money will be needed to compete with Honda, Toyota, and Volksvagen then so be it. US government will do all it can to save the big American ego and even bigger white elephant, the once-number-one, General Motors.

Peter Cohan from Peter S. Cohan Associates has the valid numbers to support his theory that GM cannot pay back even if they earnestly wanted to. Peter says, “General Motors would have to reach a value 20 percent above its all time high in order to repay the $50 billion government loan it received…” He also believes that GM’s pre-bankrupcy projections were “tortured to support the outcome that management was seeking.”

Amidst all this hoopla and nerve-wrecking pressure to produce goods ( read, a great car), GM launched a ‘May The Best Car Win’ scheme. Under the schemes buyers can return and get a full no-questions-asked refund. The scheme applies to Chevrolet, GMAC, Buick  and Cadillac.

Is it just an attempt to show an intent of innovation to the major stockholders (US government)?

Have they actually woken up to the original GM mantra of making the best cars in the world?

Is it just a marketing gimmick to garner trust in GM brand?

Is it just a get-the-crowds strategy?

Ears to the ground.

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