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Google Is Apparently Ready To Buy Smartphone Maker HTC (cnbc.com)
According to a Taiwanese news outlet called Commercial Times, Google is in the final stages of acquiring all or part of smartphone maker HTC. CNBC reports: The report seems fishy, since Google has already been down this road, but there's a reason why Google might be interested in HTC. The Taiwanese company builds the Google Pixel, which means it could be a good fit for Google as it continues to cater to consumers with its "Pixel" smartphone brand. Here's where it sounds off base: Google acquired Motorola Mobility and then sold it off just a couple of years later. Why repeat that move? Commercial Times said HTC's poor financial position and Google's desire to "perfect [the] integration of software, content, hardware, network, cloud, [and] AI," is the driving force behind Google's interest. The news outlet said Google may make a "strategic investment" or "buy HTC's smartphone R&D team" which suggests that the VR team would exist as its own.
There IS a reason besides fanboyism that Apple has 95% of the profits, and it's tightly integrated software and hardware solutions that do what they're supposed to, all day every day.
No, the reason is a 30% cut of every sale from the marketplace and doing their utmost best at preventing purchases through anything but the marketplace. It's called a walled garden. Apple could give away it's phones and barely dent its profits.
Also those "gimmicky" Android "toys" as you call them? They're introducing the features the next gen iPhone will sell you at a 300% markup and make you feel like you're an innovator for it.
Try being a little less of an Apple fanboy. They make a decent product, at a massive markup, and do their best to keep you locked into it. They have their downsides too, like changing adapter ports for no discernible reason other than getting to sell you all new accessories every few generations, complete lack of repairability, no SD cards, that smug sense of false superiority that makes it's users so so punchable because they fall for marketing bull.