Android' Is Over - Normals Call It 'Galaxy

Normals don't call smartphones powered by Google's mobile operating system "Android" phones.

They call them "Galaxy" phones.

At least, that's the trend.

The best evidence, coincidentally, comes from Google (via Benedict Evans):

There is a simple reason this is happening. Samsung is spending boatloads of money to promote its brand:

For now, this is good for Google, which has seen Android become the most ubiquitous smartphone platform:

But it's obviously better news for Samsung, which profits far more from mobile than Google does:

So there you have it.

It's a pretty safe conclusion to say that A) Galaxy is a more profitable brand than Android, and B) Galaxy owns more mindshare than Android.

Is this horrible news for Google?

Possibly.

Samsung has lots money and brand awareness.

It could use that money to develop a new operating system – or even just its own "fork" of Android, similar to what Amazon is doing with Kindle tablets.

Because of that Galaxy brand awareness, it's plausible that customers with a brand affinity would come along.

That would make Samsung very much like Apple, which is a nice company to be like.

The reason Samsung would do this is to end the uncertainty it has to live with depending on Google to continue making Android great and free.

There's a lot of uncertainty around that because Google actually owns a Samsung-competitor – Motorola.

On the other hand, using Google's operating system has worked so far for Samsung – and why mess with success?

We have one final image to leave you with. It's a photo Splat-F's Dan Frommer took during a recent trip to Japan. It shows how serious Samsung is about promoting its Galaxy brand: