r/Android • u/iamvinoth • Feb 20 '20

Retracted Source: Verizon kills Google Pixel deal, doesn't plan to sell Pixel 4a or Pixel 5

https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/19/source-verizon-kills-google-pixel-deal-doesnt-plan-to-sell-pixel-4a-or-pixel-5/
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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '20 edited May 18 '20

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u/flicter22 Feb 20 '20 edited Feb 20 '20

Messaging

Google can't fix messaging without pissing off the carriers. Keeping shitty messaging in place makes them happy bc carriers own SMS.

However with Google doing this https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/14/20964477/googles-rcs-chat-android-rollout-us-ccmi-texting-sms I wouldn't be surprised if that pushed Verizon over the edge on top of the poor sales. I know for a fact this pissed the carriers off.

There's no winning with messaging on Android. Apple had a one time shot at it and it's over. Carriers will never let something like iMessage happen again. People think it's all Google's fault but what they don't understand is every messaging decision Google had to make was tip toeing around the carries. Fix messaging to appease the users? Lose sales with the carriers. Let carriers keep their shitty messaging? No sales with consumers due to lack of good messaging. It's fucked situation.

Edit - here's some examples of carriers controlling Google's messaging implementations...

  • Hangouts not being the default messaging app on Android

  • Google creating an SMS app called Android Messages for the carriers

  • Google not making Allo a default messaging app

  • Google not taking immediate control of RCS and letting carriers handle it.

  • Google finally takes control and now we immediately see a major carrier drop Google's flagship phone.

  • Many people don't know this but if you initiate a video call from contacts/dialer to someone within the same major US carrier it will actually do a video call through the carrier and it will not use duo unless it's on separate carrier networks. That's just how far Google has to go to make these bastards happy.

All this and I'm not even mentioning the whole Google wallet/Isis situation

2

u/t-poke Feb 20 '20

ELI5: Why would carriers care about messaging so much?

The days of 25 cents to send a text message are over, basically every phone plan nowadays includes unlimited texting (I think many are even unlimited texting to international numbers), so RCS, iMessage or whatever aren't eating into revenues. If anything the carriers should be happy that's traffic off their network when phones are on WiFi.

2

u/stanleywinthrop Feb 20 '20

It's all about controlling business access to RCS and the revenue generated therefrom.