Did you know that, in the beginning, Microsoft and Nokia didn't see Android as a threat?

In fact, in 2007, when Google announced the Open Handset Alliance and its Android-related plans, some of the big boys of the smartphone world publicly stated that they believed this new Linux-based, open source platform would not be successful.

Nokia was the king of smartphones in 2007, thanks to its army of Symbian devices. Do you know what the Finnish company had to say about Android in November of that year? According to Reuters, a Nokia spokesperson simply declared:


Perhaps this was one of Nokia’s fundamental mistakes that made it rapidly lose market share in the years that followed. Ultimately, Nokia’s devices and services unit ended up being bought by Microsoft, but not before turning to Android for its line of cheap Nokia X handsets.

Speaking of Microsoft, here’s what the company’s general manager of marketing at its Windows Mobile business thought about Android in 2007:


We’re pretty sure that Microsoft now fully understands the impact that Android had, and will continue to have - not just on the mobile market, but also on pretty much everything that connects to the internet.  

Also interesting - and funny in a rather sad way - is the statement of a Symbian official from back then:


Well, Google seems to know how to manage the unmanageable - helped, of course, by all the talented people it hired, all the money that it invested in software development, and all the partnerships it made with manufacturers and carriers over the years.

Android is currently the indisputable leader of the smartphone market, with a global share of around 80%, and 1 billion active users. Apple’s iOS (with a market share or around %16) and Microsoft’s Windows Phone (around %3.5 - %4) complete the top three.

The latest version of Android, called Android L for now, will be released this fall with lots of new features and enhancements, most likely to further confirm Google's supremacy over the mobile devices market. 

reference: Reuters