With Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) recently releasing strong Q3 2011 results, [1] the company’s mobile advertising business may be in for more good news with the launch of Android’s new version, the Ice Cream Sandwich. [2] With this operating system, the company hopes to provide a common platform to both smartphones and tablets, which was earlier segregated for the two devices. Despite the sales record set by the iPhone 4S, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) might be a little wary of this development as Google inches toward seamless integration to Android users and developers.
We have a revised price estimate near $628 for Google’s stock, which is just ahead of the current market price.
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Better Integration for Developers and Users
The Ice Cream Sandwich could provide a significant boost to the number of applications being run on the Android as developers benefit from a common smartphone/tablet platform. Given that Apple has around 500,000 applications for iOS and Android stands at 200,000, Google’s new OS should help the company close this gap.
Android Partners Should be Relieved
A smart move made by Google while launching the Sandwich was to unveil it jointly with Samsung. Since Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI), there was a pressing concern among manufacturing partners that Google might favor Motorola over its other partners such as HTC and Samsung. By announcing the big release of its new OS with Samsung, this should help allay these fears to a large extent.
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