I’ve continued to play with Chrome and think about its implications, as any good* venture capitalist would do, and I’m starting to wonder if the real target for Chrome is Apple, not Microsoft. Stick with me for a second while I brainstorm on this (we are in the trust tree here, so I’m thinking while posting, always a dangerous thing…)
There has been a remarkable change in many of the Web 2.0 presentations that I have seen recently vs. those that I saw a year ago. One year ago, startups presentations to VCs had a bullet that said “Mobile strategy, blah blah.” In other words, the startup CEOs recognized that mobile was going to be a real part of their company’s product and marketing strategy, but were only at the articulation stage. All that has changed. Mobile demos are now a regular and important part of the VC pitch, and startup founders are spending just as much time showcasing their working mobile applications as they are demonstrating their pure web based product.
The iPhone is the weapon of choice for these demos, for obvious reasons. It has functionality that few other phones can match (both in UI and processing), Apple’s application store is an easy means to monetize and distribute, iPhone users are currently the leading edge in new technology adoption and the benefits of the platform/sdk are obvious. If you are developing a mobile web-based application, why wouldn’t you start with the iPhone?
Android, that’s potentially why. I’m brainstorming here that the web-based Chrome is merely a prelude to a functional death star, I mean fully functional Android/Chrome browser… a killer and core part of the Android offering. Quoting from a recent report from The 451 Group’s Chris Hazeltron, “On the heels of the launch of Google’s Chrome, comments by cofounder Sergey Brin point to a mobile version of the browser. Chrome leverages the same rendering engine as Google’s browser in Android’s mobile software stack.” The Android operating system is a good idea, but with Chrome as the default browser for mobile browsing then Google has a MSFT like hold on the mobile web experience. Since Google knows that it needs to have a fully robust mobile browser it now has a means of testing what web browser users want.
I think that the real battle browser battle won’t be on the computer, but on the phone. Since Apple (and Nokia) are the current leaders in this market they might be the ones who should most closely be watching Chrome. Perhaps Chrome is just the opening shot of the battle for the phone.
Let me know what you think!
* Also, I’m not claiming to be a good venture capitalist, just saying that I’m trying to be one!
