I believe that Google's Pixel strategy should differ from what was actually put into place. The following revisions would better serve Google and Android.
1. Pixel should be a separate Alphabet company which licenses trademarks, tradename, and other intellectual property from Google. This makes the most sense because the business of hardware manufacture is completely different from Google's core business. A separate entity would be unencumbered by Google's management considerations and would serve as a genuine statement to stakeholders, both internal and external, that the Pixel is not just a new Nexus. Creating a separate entity would also allow a more credible firewall between Android OS development and Pixel specific software development.
2. Google should have kept the Nexus device program alive and well to provide mid-spec affordable reference devices for both OEM hardware guidance and software application development. Nexus devices should be sold only through the Google Store and receive little to no marketing support.
3. Google should have reached out to hardware partners at the time that Pixel was being conceived and said, "Here's how this is going to go. Android OS will remain open sourced, but from here on out, if you want to make a legitimate, uses the Play Store and gets official Google apps device (anything released after the Pixel goes live), you're going to adhere to the following. All OEMs, including Pixel will be informed of all Android hardware considerations and will all get access to the AOSP builds at the same time as each other. Pixel won't get any Android info from Google above and beyond or in advance of what's given to other OEMs.
4. Every manufacturer will have time to test OS version upgrades and report issues and develop for their device specifics, but there will be a deadline to get back to Google with a copy of a stable build for each certified Android device. Those builds have to be ready to go by deadline, so less customization on those OS version updates is going to be safer than more differentiation baked into the ROM. After Google gets the device specific roms back from the OEMs, Google will release them, globally and at the same time. Google controls the updates. If carriers want to carry Android phones, they're going to have to deal with that. (SUCK IT VERIZON!). If hardware partners want to push additional subsequent non os-version customizations or maintain separate device specific Play Store applications that can be used to differentiate their phones, OEMS can do so after and on top of the OS version upgrades. If OEMS miss OS version upgrades, the device loses its certification.
5. OEMS have to guarantee that each device will stay on the update schedule for a minimum of two years after the device's official release. There would have been a time when Samsung could have credibly threatened to revolt over such requirements and go off and do its own thing with Tizen. But given the recent hit they've taken with the Note 7, as well as how far the Android app ecosystem has matured, that's a less credible threat than ever before.
6. By doing all of the above, Google could put tighter controls on how Android is used, compete against its hardware partners in a way that prevents accusations of dirty pool, and finally put a major dent in the idea of Android OS version fragmentation that has long plagued the ecosystem and its application development and support.
1. Pixel should be a separate Alphabet company which licenses trademarks, tradename, and other intellectual property from Google. This makes the most sense because the business of hardware manufacture is completely different from Google's core business. A separate entity would be unencumbered by Google's management considerations and would serve as a genuine statement to stakeholders, both internal and external, that the Pixel is not just a new Nexus. Creating a separate entity would also allow a more credible firewall between Android OS development and Pixel specific software development.
2. Google should have kept the Nexus device program alive and well to provide mid-spec affordable reference devices for both OEM hardware guidance and software application development. Nexus devices should be sold only through the Google Store and receive little to no marketing support.
3. Google should have reached out to hardware partners at the time that Pixel was being conceived and said, "Here's how this is going to go. Android OS will remain open sourced, but from here on out, if you want to make a legitimate, uses the Play Store and gets official Google apps device (anything released after the Pixel goes live), you're going to adhere to the following. All OEMs, including Pixel will be informed of all Android hardware considerations and will all get access to the AOSP builds at the same time as each other. Pixel won't get any Android info from Google above and beyond or in advance of what's given to other OEMs.
4. Every manufacturer will have time to test OS version upgrades and report issues and develop for their device specifics, but there will be a deadline to get back to Google with a copy of a stable build for each certified Android device. Those builds have to be ready to go by deadline, so less customization on those OS version updates is going to be safer than more differentiation baked into the ROM. After Google gets the device specific roms back from the OEMs, Google will release them, globally and at the same time. Google controls the updates. If carriers want to carry Android phones, they're going to have to deal with that. (SUCK IT VERIZON!). If hardware partners want to push additional subsequent non os-version customizations or maintain separate device specific Play Store applications that can be used to differentiate their phones, OEMS can do so after and on top of the OS version upgrades. If OEMS miss OS version upgrades, the device loses its certification.
5. OEMS have to guarantee that each device will stay on the update schedule for a minimum of two years after the device's official release. There would have been a time when Samsung could have credibly threatened to revolt over such requirements and go off and do its own thing with Tizen. But given the recent hit they've taken with the Note 7, as well as how far the Android app ecosystem has matured, that's a less credible threat than ever before.
6. By doing all of the above, Google could put tighter controls on how Android is used, compete against its hardware partners in a way that prevents accusations of dirty pool, and finally put a major dent in the idea of Android OS version fragmentation that has long plagued the ecosystem and its application development and support.
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