According to Neowin, Google has struck deals with multiple suppliers to include Android software as part of their television products.
However, it is not by offering discounts or concessions. Instead, Google is paying vendors to include Android.
Vendors have multiple options for iOS systems to merge with their products — Opera becoming the latest corporation to announce their emergence in to the market. However, with the enticing lure of Google slipping them a few extra dollars here and there, we can probably expect a higher percentile of Android sets in the market in the future.
(Source: Flickr)
The exact pricing terms that Google has agreed with vendors is not currently known, however, in an unstable consumer market, any additional revenue is something few manufacturers and vendors would turn down without consideration.
Lenovo is the first to announce the launch of a television running Android 4.0.
The market is certainly there to be taken advantage of, with more television sets being integrated with both wireless and iOS technology. However, if corporations like Google are going down the path of paying vendors to include their software, you have to question the platform itself.
Does Google consider this business strategy a way of securing longer-term investment in the industry, or is it due to other factors, such as salvaging a failing product?
If Google asserts its place within the Smart TV industry now, then Gen Y may expect that Google will compete for a dominant marketshare, which may in turn promote other devices that the Internet giant has interest in. Releasing a device or iOS out to the masses, as long as the quality is acceptable, will in turn create definition and trust within a brand.
Perhaps the strategy of paying vendors now is in order to ensure generations growing up with Smart TVs will automatically prefer the familiarity of Android in the future. I’d be interested to see what lies in store for Google and their interest in the system.
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