CEO: 'Android Is Europe' And Android Tablets Are 'Crappy'

Ever since Android started taking off, people have warned that was going to lose the smartphone wars, just like it lost the PC wars.
In the 80s, led the way with computer innovation for the Mac. But it was that eventually took control of the personal computing market and never let go. was relegated to a niche player, and almost died.
This time, led the way with the iPhone, but Google's Android is now shipping on 80% of all smart, relegating to a niche player. , with $160 billion in cash, isn't anywhere close to dth, but for some people, memories of the 90s linger, and there is a concern that the same thing is going to happen eventually.
CEO Tim Cook was asked if he wasn't putting the company in the same vulnerable position it found itself in in the 90s by Daisuke Wakabayashi at the Wall Street Journal.
Cook rejected the comparison for two rsons.
First, he says the rson left the Mac in the dust is that the Mac lost appliions. As a result, users went to computers.
This time, has an equal, or better set of appliions. has a million iPhone appliions, and half a million iPad appliions.On Android, Cook says there only 1,000 apps specifically designed for tablets. "That's one of the rsons, although not the only rson, why the experience on Android tablets is so crappy because the app is nothing more than a stretched out smartphone app," says Cook.
Second, he says Android can't be compared to because Android is far too fragmented.
"The other thing is that pretty much was one thing," says Cook. "Android is like Europe. Europe was a name that somebody came up with for Americans who didn't understand that Europe was a lot of countries that weren't like U.S. states. They were very different. Android is many things. How many people who use a Kindle know that they're using Android? And you see what is doing by putting more and more software on top."
On some level, what Cook says is true. But, the risk is that he's talking about what's happened in the last six yrs. What happens in the next six yrs when Android takes over 80% of the smartphone and tablet markets? Will developers still work on iOS? Or will that change.
Cook wasn't asked. However, he was asked about market share. His answer: We're in most major markets, and where we're two, we're going to try to change that.
"(Among true smart), we're one in the U.S., we're one in Canada, we're one in Japan, we're two in Western Europe, we're two in stern Europe," says Cook. "We're two in Asia when you take Japan out. So in most geographies, in most major regions of the world, we're one or two. Would I like to be one in the places where we are two? You better believe it."
Rd more from Cook at the WSJ >>