Google has always had other smartphone manufacturers churn out the devices for its brand. However, recent reports indicate that the company may be making handsets itself soon.
According to Digital Trends, "key executives" in the company are discussing about the prospect of making its own smartphone, with the new Android chief Hiroshi Lockheimer being one of those involved in the said talks.
"Google has not commented on the rumors of a first-party smartphone, but it seems that an in-house phone might just be a possibility," the tech news source noted.
"Reports last week hinted that Google wants to start standardizing components for Android, and now would be a good time to lead by example," it went on. "Launching its own smartphone would help Google promote and visualize the advantage of standardization, and it might also inspire manufacturers like HTC, Sony, and LG to make design changes and add support for newer components."
Right now, the Nexus line of smartphones is "the closest thing to a phone built by Google," Forbes said, adding that the series, although running purely on Android, are made by third parties like Motorola, LG, and Huawei, albeit under Google's supervision.
"The idea of the Nexus line is that Google can can ship its own version of how Android should look and perform without the skins or bloatware added by other manufacturers (the third parties who build Nexus handsets can't install anything other than stock Android on the devices)," the business and finance news site noted.
It also said that should Google decide to make its own phones from scratch, it would change the way it collaborated or related to other Android device makers and its branding.
BGR's Chris Smith observed that the possibility of Google taking control of Android phone manufacturing could be motivated by its striving to outpace the iPhone.
"Despite dominating the smartphone market, Google is still losing big to iPhone when it comes to profits," Smith analyzed. "And Apple is converting plenty of Android users to iPhone now that there are models available with larger displays."
Smith further observed that Google could have done just that back when it still owned Motorola. That was also the time when the first batch of Google phone rumors flew about. However, Google, at that time, said that it didn't want to give Motorola "preferential treatment."
Right now, Google has not said a word about making smartphones in-house and has not confirmed rumors.
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