While the companies are not each others’ biggest rivals, they are increasingly in competition. This follows years of enjoying one of the best relationships in Silicon Valley, one that will now get more complicated as the companies compete in more areas.
Their most significant rivalry today is mobile phone platforms, where Google’s Android phones compete with Apple’s iPhones. So far, Apple has had more success, both in getting consumers to buy its phones, and in getting software companies to develop apps for its platform.
But Google has a big year ahead: It’ll eventually be distributed by all four major U.S. wireless carriers, while Apple is exclusive with AT&T. And phone manufacturers like Motorola have plans to make lots of mid-range, high-volume phones with Android. Assuming the efforts are adequate, Google could catch up significantly in the next year.
