Google announced its first computer yesterday, the ChromeBook Pixel. Chromebooks have been around for years, but this is the first one that's made exclusively by Google.
In recent years, we've seen companies that deal with services and software, such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, attempt to develop hardware. It's made many wonder why these companies have turned their attention to hardware when they offer amazing services. Horace Dediu of Asymco is sure he knows the answer, and it's all about money.
It turns out that even though Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are successful companies, their profits are nothing compared to those of Apple and Samsung. The company that is making the most profit from Android right now is not Google, but Samsung.
Google, Amazon, and Microsoft aren't as good at making money as Apple and Samsung are. So if these companies want to start taking over the tech world, they need to release their own hardware. That's why Google introduced the ChromeBook Pixel yesterday. That's why Amazon transformed the Kindle from a cheap e-reader into a high-quality tablet. And that's why Microsoft is feeling the pressure to make a decent tablet, too.
If Google and Microsoft want to approach Apple's profits, then they need to start behaving more like it and offering complete products. Which they may finally be doing.
Dimitrios Georgoulas
