PlayBook is going to be launched by Research in Motion the manufacturers of BlackBerry, while Android is designed by a group lead by Google. Google has taken special interest in the development and marketing of Android just because it wants to extend its supremacy as a search engine in the world of smart phones too.
The more the number of applications, more is the popularity of that smart phone device. There is a vast difference between the number of BlackBerry applications and Android application. Android Apps number is over 1,30,000 while that of BlackBerry stands at nearly 20,000. The Android has a big community following and support. The number of Android apps is quite high just because it is an open source platform. The cost of developing an Android application is quite reasonable and the rate of return is quite assured. This difference can have a very big impact on the buying behavior of any prospective smart phone user.
One of the business management strategies is if you cannot go against, go with. This is what the RIM is going to most probably try. RIM knows that the best way to survive in the smart phone market is through designing such an operating system and platform that runs the Android apps too. If RIM is successful in making the Android applications run on the PlayBook, the PlayBook will not only have the features of BlackBerry but also compatible to run the Android applications. In this situation the user of Play Book will be facilitated with around 1,50,000 applications. This could give the PlayBook the much awaited boost and stay ahead of the other smart phone manufacturers.
If RIM is able to make the Android applications run on the PlayBook, it can leave the iPhone far back in terms of popularity and number of applications available. The market scenario could change drastically. Earlier there were three major competitors in the field of smart phones; namely RMI (manufacturers of Blackberry), Apple Inc. (manufacturers of iPhone, iPod and iPad) and Android. After the introduction of PlayBook that is able to run the Android applications, the iPhone is sure to phase the biggest challenge of surviving in the market.
This is just hypothetical situation. If Apple Inc. also decides to allow the running of Android applications on its iPhone device, the Google is going to emerge as the biggest winner in the smart phone market.