Yesterday, we offered a lengthy discussion of the new antitrust suit filed against Google.Today, we examine the areas of Google strength and weakness.
Understanding the Areas of Google Strength and Weakness
To be clear, despite the 64-page legal filing against Google, the firm is not dominant in every product category in which it operates.
Furthermore, Google has faced numerous product failures. To read about 50 of them, click here. And don’t forget about the highly-publicized Google Glass. According to Investopedia:
The product garnered considerable criticism, with concerns about its price, safety, and privacy. In addition, Glass seemed to lack the “cool” factor often associated with successful technology product rollouts.
With the preceding in mind, we highlight some areas of strength and weakness. As reported by Katherine Riley for the Wall Street Journal.
Google’s Areas of Strength
In the product categories in which it leads, Google is often dominant. According to this infographic, based on WSJ charts, these are Google’s market shares. In descending order of market share.
For example, as Riley notes:
Apple’s iOS powers almost 60% of U.S. smartphones. Elsewhere in the world, most smartphones run on Google’s Android operating system. That is partly because Google allows any smartphone manufacturer to use — and customize — Android for its devices. In contrast, Apple’s iOS runs only on the company’s own phones. This widespread availability has helped Android gain and maintain a global market share three times that of iOS.
Google’s Areas of Weakness
Two big areas of weakness for Google involve cloud computing and smartphones. Despite investments in these product categories, Google has not gained traction. The competition from Amazon Web Service, Apple Smartphones, and others has been too intense. And these competitors achieved strong positions well before Google entered the marketplace. Thus, there are no antitrust concerns in these categories — at least with regard to Google.
According to this infographic, based on WSJ charts, these are Google’s key weak categories.
