Okay, so we already know that it’s likely to be a better investment than Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) over the next few years, but Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) might be a different story.
A social butterfly
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) wasn’t always into the social scene. Though it tried to make an impact, it just wasn’t working out. However, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) eventually found a way to compete and users have responded. The numbers below, provided by janrain.com, indicate social login preferences for the second quarter.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB): 46% (bouncing back after two quarters of declines)
Google: 34% (increasing in popularity)
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO): 7%
Twitter: 6%
According to searchmetrics.com, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) might exceed Facebook in social-sharing activity by 2016. If Google continues to improve in social, then brand recognition will increase and more doors will open.
Searching for gold
Google has dominated the search market for many years, and this trend isn’t going to change anytime soon. The numbers below, provided by comscore.com, indicate search market share for June, 2013.
Google: 66.7%
Bing: 17.9%
Yahoo!: 11.4%
Ask: 2.7%
AOL: 1.3%
According to Alexa.com, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) ranks No. 2 in the world and No. 1 in the United States for Internet traffic. As long as those numbers remain in place, Google’s potential should remain high.
Operating well overseas
Most investors might not realize that 55% of Google’s revenue comes from overseas. Therefore, it’s important for Google to at least maintain its market share for its Android operating system.
Over the past year ending in June, Google has substantially improved its Android market share. The information below, provided by StatCounter GlobalStats, indicates global operating market share for Google’s Android operating system and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iOS.
Android: 37.93% (from 26.53% last year)
iOS: 25.09% (from 25.41% last year)
However, in the United States, it’s a different story.
iOS: 54.5%
Android: 39.36%
Google notes
Google saw Chrome and Android as massive risks at the time of their development and launch, but they turned out to be home runs. This is a clear indication of highly intelligent management and a more-than-effective workforce. Google’s timing has also been superb.
Looking forward, you should expect Google to be one of the most innovative companies in the world. This is an easy prediction based on past successes and the company’s $50 billion in cash. With this amount of cash on hand, even a product or innovative failure won’t significantly hurt the company.
Moto X isn’t likely to be one of those failures. Based on information from a leaked YouTube video (since removed), Moto X’s features will include hands-free command, sensors, voice-activated search, and smart push notifications. The voice-activated search is expected to be similar to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Siri voice assistant.
