Apple and Google have never been known as the best of friends. However, in the last few months, the two technology heavyweights have faced-off against each other in numerous battles. There’s no doubt that both these companies are engaged in a titanic rivalry which spans multiple issues, domains and technologies.

It would be foolish to pick a winner in this high-stake battle where neither of the two companies has been prepared to concede an inch to their competitor. The feud started over Eric Schmidt and the Google CEO being forced to resign from Apple board last year. While it was projected as a move to reduce the mounting tensions between Google & Apple, it was just the beginning of the bad-blood that’s now clearly evident.

The most high-profile battle between Apple and Google is the one to dominate the mobile industry and is often touted to be the next big smartphone war. Does Google hold an upper hand or is Apple poised in a more comfortable position. Let’s find out.

Mobile Advertising

Google’s primary strength is search. Though the company may have several other bestsellers, millions of people still know Google because of its fantastic search engine. Therefore, it’s understandable that Google wants to extend its search dominance to the mobile industry as well. Therefore, it acquired AdMob, a specialist mobile advertising firm for a whopping $750 million last year. Though Apple was considered to be a strong contender for AdMob acquisition, Google surprised everyone by pocketing the deal at the last moment.

Apple immediately switched to Plan-B and acquired Quattro Wireless, another mobile advertising company for $275 million earlier this year. The move is aimed at curbing the progress of Google-AdMob in soon to explode mobile advertising sector.

Smartphones

Earlier this year, Google launched it’s first ever smartphone named ‘Nexus One’. Though Google’s Android mobile operating system has been around for a long time, Nexus One marked the formal entry of Google into the smartphone arena. However, the phone failed to live up to its pre-launch hype and customer expectations.

Once touted to be an iPhone killer, Nexus One failed miserably to even challenge the former’s supremacy as the world’s most popular smartphone. Google’s self-support strategy may work wonders for apps and search but it backfired big time for smartphones.

Mobile Apps
Apple’s iTunes app store has been a phenomenal success over the last few years and it’s unsurprising that it recorded a billion downloads in less than nine months after its inception. Apple hit the bull’s eye by launching the iPhone – a touchscreen based phone with unique innovative features like shake, accelerometer and the ability to easily download and run apps.

However, in the last year or so, the demographics of the mobile apps marketplace have changed drastically. Android Market’s popularity has increased steadily over the last couple of quarters and it has now overtaken Apple’s iTunes store in the United States. A major reason for Android’s popularity is that it’s built on an open-source model as compared to the proprietary iPhone OS interface.

Predictions

There’s no doubt that Apple and Google are two fantastic companies with a stupendous track record of innovation and developing products to simplify human life. It’s an epic war with no end in sight. So, if you ask me to pick a winner between Apple and Google in the smartphone war? A wise man doesn’t always predict simply because there are times when he can’t predict.