Tablets in Healthcare: Apple Vs. Droid

Perhaps Apple’s biggest legitimate competitor in tablets is Google’s Android OS. There are reasons that Apple should be worried. Google and Apple are both very large companies with $23 billion and $36 billion in sales respectively but that is where the similarities seem to end. Apple has been known for its ability to make very sleek and simple hardware for use with its operating system. Since its founding, Apple has been more interested in developing hardware than software despite there soon to be nemesis, Bill Gates, telling them how good their software was and that they should license it. Apple was so confident that they had hardware and a software product that was far superior to its competition that it could not be challenged. Oops.

Apple continues to develop ingenious and trend-setting hardware and software under the direction of Steve Jobs. The problem is that the only way that you can use their hardware is with their iOS and this may be their Achilles heel when it comes to market dominance and speed. When Google entered the mobile computing/cell phone market, they stayed true to their mission; open source. Essentially, anyone or any manufacturer can build a phone around Android’s OS. Anyone can build an app for the Android software whereas Apple requires developers to go through an application process. For instance, if your app is too simple or there is something else similar in Apple’s store, your application is rejected. Google is different in that it allows you to put your software out there using their platform, no matter who was first, and then lets the market place decide who should win. This openness is probably the single reason that Android has become so dominant in just 24 months. In fact, the Android OS surpassed the iPhone in sales in 2010.