Sony Corporation (ADR) (SNE), Google Inc (GOOG): Samsung Days as Android’s Owner Could Be Coming to an End

Motorola’s Moto X could set sales records in the US
Then there’s Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s own in-house hardware unit, Motorola. Its new phone, the Moto X, doesn’t win any awards when it comes to internal hardware, but the phone has received favorable reviews, and should sell exceptionally well this fall.

In era when smartphones are starting to become indistinguishable, the Moto X offers something remarkably unique: the ability to customize the phone. Using Motorola’s website, a would-be buyer can design their phone’s look, then have it shipped directly to them.

In order to accomplish this feat, Motorola has to manufacture the devices in Texas. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has already played up this “made-in-America” notion in its advertising, and that makes sense — the phone should be widely popular with the “buy American” crowd.

Longer-term, Motorola could be expected to produce other great Android handsets. Safely underneath the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) umbrella, Motorola can afford to experiment. These moonshot bets (as the company’s management has called them) could pay off big time.

Android competition heating up
Looking at the Android market as its stands today, it’s easy to declare it a one-horse race. Samsung is king, and everyone else is fighting for scraps.

But there’s no guarantee that will continue; indeed, it seems unlikely. After years of mediocrity, both Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) and Motorola appear to have woken up, ready to challenge Samsung with a number of impressive new devices. Longer-term, rising Chinese tech stars like Lenovo, wildly successful in their home country, seem poised to bring their devices to foreign markets.

That competition should be fantastic for the consumer; it may not be so great for Samsung.

The article Samsung Days as Android’s Owner Could Be Coming to an End originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sam Mattera.

Sam Mattera has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Google.

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