Dell and Intel helped so far simply by being major powers joining in on Android. With their backing, you know it's serious, and you know Android will expand, especially into Atom-powered devices.
Now answer my question for the vast majority of companies, the cell phone industry powerhouses, behind Android. You don't think they had anything to do with Android's rapid growth?
Just look at the numbers. Your oh-my-god-it's-selling-like-crazy most hyped, most beloved Android phone that broke all sales records managed a whopping small fraction of the iPhone 4's initial sales. The only reason Android has grown so much since release is that it has been installed on no less than SIXTY phones on all major carriers in two years, and that doesn't even count carrier rebranding. The market is flooded with these phones from low-end to high-end.
In short, the sales of over TWO DOZEN current Android phones COMBINED on all major carriers COMBINED managed to barely edge-out the iPhone. That's fine. Apple needs competition. But only a warped mind can see this as some kind of great achievement. I would have considered it a failure if Android didn't eventually surpass the iPhone in sales.
Since neither Dell nor Intel have amounted to much in cell phones or smartphones, their being "major powers" have about as much effect on Android market share as Disney being behind Android. Their effect on Android market share was a big far ZERO.
“With their backing, you know it's serious, and you know Android will expand, especially into Atom-powered devices.”
With their backing, neither Dell nor Intel made any headway in smartphones, let alone increase Android's market share. You can't help someone when you can’t even help yourself.
Atoms huh?
How many Atom powered smartphoes have you seen being sold anywhere?
Again, Win Mo, and various versions of mobile Linux had all those firms like TI supporting them, and still went nowhere. Andriod came, saw and conquered Apple in just 2 years.
“Just look at the numbers. Your oh-my-god-it’s-selling-like-crazy most hyped, most beloved Android phone that broke all sales records managed a whopping small fraction of the iPhone 4’s initial sales&rdquodquo
Totally irrelevant.
Andriods are currently clobbering the iPhone in quarterly smartphone sales. 'all that Google cares about, to get their OS onto as many smartphones as possible to they can then leverage it to make money off mobile search.
Of course since there are vastly more companies making Android phones than there are making the iphone(only one company, Apple makes the iPhones), naturally the single vendor of iPhones will outsell a random single vendor of Andriod.
It's like comparing Apple mac sales to Windows PC sales from some small PC maker and claiming the Mac is dominant. As far as Microsoft is concerned, total Windows PC sales vastly outpace those of the Mac. That's all that matters. And...Google's Android is going to continue to totally clobber the iPhones unabated.