Google's mobile phones encounter the烦恼of growth

In November 2007, when Google released the Android mobile software platform, it drew significant attention from the industry. Three months later, the prototype of the Android phone was officially unveiled at the 3GSM Conference. The exhibitors were mainly concentrated among chipset providers such as NEC, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Freescale Semiconductor, with no terminal enterprises participating. Is the Google phone encountering growing pains?

Typically, a company needs a 6-9 month cycle to develop a new phone. If Google phones are to be launched by the end of 2008, phone companies should have already initiated the development of Android phones. However, judging by the current performance of various terminal brands, Android phones are still in the demo phase. Although the establishment of the Open Handset Alliance was met with cheers, if large-scale investment is to happen, everyone will likely wait until Google releases a truly mature product.

In December 2007, shortly after the release of the Android platform, many engineers who downloaded the development package found numerous defects and vulnerabilities in the package provided by Google. Mike Bess, an engineer and entrepreneur based in Seattle, even remarked: "The Android development kit doesn't offer any functionality, and the documentation is terrible. It's clear that it’s not ready for a wide release."

On February 14, Google released an upgraded software development kit (SDK) for the Android mobile operating system. Not long ago, the Android Application Developer Challenge, which offered prize money in the millions, was postponed due to the upgrade of the Android SDK. This also indicates that the development of the Android mobile platform has not gone as smoothly as expected. The participation of global software developers has been far less enthusiastic than initially hoped. Upon closer examination of the current state of Android, this can be understood. Even if software developers wish to develop applications based on the Android platform, once they download the development package and find too many bugs, they may delay their plans, even with Google as a backing force. After all, every enterprise must consider the return on its investment.

Google introduced Android...