AT&T to Android — It’s Not You, It’s Me

android-logo1Some relationships just aren’t meant to be. Take AT&T and Android, for example. Since the Apple iPhone is a cash cow for the carrier, I’m thinking that there isn’t much chance for AT&T customers to experience Google Android devices in the near future. Scott Moritz at The Street sheds a little light on my thought, reporting that, “AT&T canceled plans to carry Google Android-powered phones later this year.” This news hits just as Motorola enters the Android market at our upcoming Mobilize 09 conference, where they’ll announce at least one device running Google’s operating system.

The AT&T and Apple relationship roots run very deep now — the two have dated on an exclusive basis since the initial iPhone announcement in January of 2007. If they keep this relationship up until 2014, some states would consider them in a common-law marriage! As long as AT&T carries Apple phones exclusively, I’m not sure they’ll offer an Android handset.

I actually wonder if Cupertino has enough influence to prevent that from happening, to be honest. Obviously, I don’t know. But if the mobile space becomes a two-horse race as some are thinking it will, I can’t see why Apple would let AT&T have an affair with Google. It would be good for AT&T — and its customers — to offer a choice of solid smartphone platforms. Apple might lose some of its favored status, though, and I’m not sure it would be too happy in that situation. If AT&T does offer a modern, new Android handset in the next year or two, I expect some heavy-duty relationship counseling sessions between the carrier and Apple.

With the current situation in the U.S., Google actually looks like the winner in all of this. The company already has two Android handsets available to T-Mobile customers. There are rumors that an upcoming Motorola Android handset is coming to Verizon Wireless in late October. And although Sprint is currently focused on the Palm Pre, that exclusive deal runs out around the end of the year. Dan Hesse of Sprint has alluded to waiting for Android to mature — which it has, thanks to the Cupcake update and more apps — so I’m expecting Android for Sprint customers, too. In the end, Google is well-positioned with the AT&T and Apple fling — it can play the field and gain more customers overall with a wider net. Thoughts?

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