What figures? I haven’t seen any hard numbers from primary sources at all. If you recall, it was widely claimed that 1.5 million G1 units were sold in the U.S. alone within a few months of its introduction, which was bogus.

Yes, and I’m really curious if the end-result of all this will one day be a level market where unsubsidized devices are sold (just like PCs) against 4G-standardized network services world over.

Android has greater value as a replacement for Windows Mobile and Symbian on phones that are locked 25 ways from Sunday to offerings from the cellular operator only. Like being able to wipe a Windows PC choked by crapware with Linux, Android offers the capability to escape the proprietary walled gardens which subsidized the hardware on purchase.

Still, I would consider Apple to be a life style company. And I would consider Steve Jobs to be an artist who can match with the names I mentioned before, each on their own field.
Apple is concentrating on a top layer – user experience – building their products with existing components and third party manufacturing. Even OS X can be seen as a skin around Unix.

If I had to compete with Apple I would focus on user experience, which includes interaction, behaviour, reliability and performance. It’s this “top layer” that determines the integration, which is pretty difficult. Underneath the top layer there are lots of very good “components” that can fit in. Googles Android helps, if you see the core OS as a “component”.

Apple has a tremendous head-start and will definitely be a big player. But the Apple “snob” image does not appeal to everybody and all over the world companies will try and compete. They will try and fail, fail again, fail better… Existing parties will be more than happy to participate in the competition. The key part will be the integration and we might need a little wonder (or: newborn artist) over there.

I’m surprised you say that because many of those names tried their hands in the hardware ‘design’ business from hard disks to laptops to mice. It’s been worse than a yawn, in general. I think what the iPhone proves beyond anything else is that true design innovation only comes through the seamless integration of hardware + software + services, as I explained in:

Who can beat iPhone 2.0?

Designers from non-consumer fields don’t often grok the nature of that integration, so we get lipstick on a pig like the Prada phones.

To sell a phone I think you need a life-style brand, a brand that integrates values, technology and design. Hardware components, the basic OS and manufacturing can be purchased from third parties. But the finishing touch, including the top layer of the user interface, needs to be provided by a really talented designer.

I don’t expect Android to become a design brand by itself, but i’d love to see it enable future Ralf Laurens, Pininfarinas or Norman Fosters to enter the market.

Is there a fixed feature set to Android? if there isn’t then an overarching campaign by Google to promote these isn’t really am option.

Google could dump a whole lot of ads in their ad-sense on behalf of it’s partners but I doubt that Google will do this one.

How to sell this thing indeed..