To A Platform, Products And Partners

Q: how may one scale a platform better together with partners by products? A: 3 themes in my experience.

A view from a Google Banqiao office, Taiwan

Dumb luck maybe, I started a journey to scale the Android platform in 2011. After 11 years, a few products & partners, I just switched gear to bootstrap more 0-to-1 with my “bare hands” first. While I’ve been sharing my observations & extrapolations on building a platform, this graduation triggers my reflection of a few learnings. I’m grateful. Because of the honorable partners, the journeys were fulfilling & fun. They can be categorized to 3 relevant themes in the platform scaling.

Heavy Lifting

Thanks to a few partners, who capable to do the heavy lifting to push the boundary of a platform very well. “Under my watch”, they created the opportunities for their businesses while taking Android into new sections💪.

1. Philips Pi3800 tablet is the 1st compatible Android tablet with the MIPS architecture.
2. Lava XOLO X900 is the 1st compatible Android mobile with the x86 architecture with Intel inside.
3. Various form factors were added in an Android-compatible way. To name a few: the 1st Smart Display — Frontier FT103, a desktop IP video phon — Cisco Dx650, an industrial handheld device — Honeywell Dolphin Black) & a military-grade tablet — Harris 12131–1000.

Philips Pi3800, Frontier FT103, Cisco Dx650 & Lava XOLO X900

Expand the horizon

Because a few innovative partners shared blood, sweat & tears with us. There were ventures to creating more & better experience. Which enriched the platform & delighted more users better.

1. HTC One M8 Google Play edition brought the soul of Nexus into the best HTC shell in 2014.
2. Android 5.1 update for the 1st generation of Android One devices: Symphony Roar A50, Spice Dream Uno, Micromax Canvas A1 & Karbonn Sparkle V. Which brought the latest & greatest Lollipop to the next billion users.
3. The most watch-like Android Smartwatch in 2015: Huawei Watch & still one of the best in 2017, shipping the 1st generation of watches to run Wear OS apps for China & also building for ladies.

HTC One M8 GPe, Android One & Huawei Watch

Growth better together

The strategic partnership takes a leap of faith. And because we believed & iterated persistently, the growth eventually came.

1. In 2013, we finally got the 1st compatible Oppo Android mobile ready to launch. The tireless effort took more than a half year putted Oppo on the right track to grow as a capable Android community member. In Q1 2022, Oppo is the №4 OEM shipping 31M smartphones.
2. In 2019, we worked closely with Samsung to add the foldable emulator in Android 10 to make it easy for any developer to take advantage of the new form factor. The momentum has been building since. In 2021, 10M people open foldable as the market grew 3x. And this August, Samsung unfolded Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 to take it to the mainstream.
3. In 2020, Polestar 2 is the 1st car, that carries Google Automotive Services(GAS) to make information available & useful in cars. In 2021, GMC Hummer EV also joined the club in a leaner & better way. It’s the fist GAS car with the 32-bit app legacy no more. The fleet is growing. They will also get smarter over time with new application features via Play Store & new system enhancement by OTA updates.

Oppo global smartphone market share, Android Emulator with Foldable, Polestar 2 & Hummer EV

Full Disclosure

The opinions stated here are my own, not those of my company. They are mostly extrapolations from public information. I don’t have insider knowledge of those companies, nor a whatever expert. Up to you to take it with a grain of salt or two 😉.