Android and iOS have become the two dominant platforms in the world of mobile, with recent reports showing that the two platforms making up the vast majority of the smartphone market. The battle between these two leaders is one that's being waged on store shelves and Internet comment sections, and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt recently sat down with Bloomberg to share his view on the Android v. iOS war. Unsurprisingly, Schmidt feels that Android is doing pretty well for itself, saying that he feels that Google's little green robot is "winning that war pretty clearly now." The Google executive went on to say that Android is still seeing 1.3 million device activations every day.
Schmidt also touched a bit on Google's decision to make Android free rather than license it out, admitting that that strategy does provide profits for companies like Samsung. However, it also grows demand for ads and services that Google provides, which Schmidt says plays into Google's "make a bigger pie" strategy. "We will end up with a not perfectly controlled and not perfectly managed bigger pie by virtue of open systems," the exec said.
Android has been enjoying quite a bit of success in the smartphone market, recently crossing the 500 million total device activations mark and amassing 675,000 apps in the Google Play store. Of course, given that Schmidt holds the title of chairman at Google, these latest quotes don't exactly come as a shock. What will be interesting is seeing which mobile platform will be able to rise up and give Android and iOS a run for their money. Microsoft and RIM are trying their hand at it with Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10, but it's still a tad too early to judge whether or not they'll succeed. When do you think we'll see a third platform emerge as a strong competitor to Android and iOS?