????至于Android系統，搭載這個系統的手機數量十分龐大，在出貨量上仍占據第一的位子，但這個生態系統的健康程度卻令人懷疑。我采訪過的大多數Android開發者都表示，Android始終難以向高價值的開發者提供持續的利潤和收入。部分原因是由于Android的應用商店過于分散，Android設備的形狀、大小不一，甚至還存在著許多不同的Android版本。谷歌顯然正在著手解決這個問題，不過尚未取得實質性的進展。而蘋果采取的將設備、軟件和應用商店集成一體的戰略使得蘋果能夠比谷歌更快速、更廣泛地促進市場創新，因此谷歌不得全力應對。

????Android系統的另一個難題是如何贏得能為它帶來高利潤的用戶。現在這些高利潤用戶往往選擇使用iPhone或iPad。平板電腦方面表現得更為明顯，你見過多少出門帶著Android平板的？在今天的PC世界中，最能給廠商帶來利潤的用戶是Mac用戶。而在能智能手機世界中也正呈現出同樣的態勢。

????蘋果的聲明對創業公司意味著什么？蘋果的舉措可能會在地圖、支付和忠誠消費回饋計劃（loyalty program，一種刺激用戶重復消費的回饋機制，如積分卡機制）等領域對一些早期的成功公司形成壓力。不過我的第一感覺是，蘋果并不是要故意扼殺這些創新公司的努力。這個觀點可能和主流觀點相悖，因為更主流的觀點是，蘋果、微軟、谷歌或Facebook這樣的科技巨頭往往會模仿或是收購好的創意，把它們納入自己的生態系統里，從而造成扼殺創新的結果。

????我的觀點是，蘋果在地圖和支付等領域的擴展和提高是一個平臺對該生態系統的創新進行管理的必然結果。蘋果作為這個平臺的所有者，自然在商業上有豐富該平臺的興趣，以便使平臺變得功能更強，更能吸引開發者參與構建，同時也吸引更多的用戶進行消費。我們可以看看任何的主流平臺，比如Xbox、Facebook、谷歌、Twitter、微軟的Windows服務器或亞馬遜（Amazon）的網絡服務，他們為了吸引消費者、游戲玩家、發展社交或企業用戶，無一例外都擴展了平臺的涉足領域和功能，使平臺的功能變得更強大，以吸引更多的開發者和生態系統供應商，進而提供更深入、更有用的終端用戶體驗。

????因此沒有一家創業公司無須繼續創新就能偏安一隅。隨著蘋果繼續提高iOS平臺的功能性，創業公司也必須持續創新，否則就會陷入困境。在大多數案例中（并非全部），比起一家科技巨頭能否把它的平臺擴展到某一新的領域，我更擔心的是一家創業公司在執行上陷入失敗，或是沒能持續創新。要記住，蘋果的iCloud的目標就是要干掉Dropbox，蘋果的音樂社交網絡Ping的目標就是干掉音樂網站Pandora，或是阻止像流媒體音樂服務Spotify這樣的音樂服務商出現。我這里并非在批評蘋果的創新，只是想說，能夠做好執行和創新的創業公司仍然能夠繼續繁榮發展。

????On the Android side, Google's unit share leadership continues to provide the advantages of being #1, but the ecosystem's health is questionable. With most developers I speak with, Android struggles to deliver consistent profits and revenue to high value-add developers. Part of this challenge is due to the fragmentation of Android App Stores, form factors, and even different OS versions running on devices. Google is apparently working to address these issues, but material progress has been slow. Google has to turn on the jets here, as Apple's strategy of having an integrated device, software, and app store ecosystem enables Apple to drive innovation into the marketplace more quickly and more broadly than Google.

????Another key challenge for Android is winning high profit users who today tend to choose iPhones or iPads. On the tablet side, in particular, how often have you actually seen a user with an Android based device in the wild? It's rare. In today's PC world, the most profitable users are Mac users; the same dynamic is starting to take hold in the smartphone world.

????What do Apple's announcements mean for startups? Apple's moves potentially pressure some successful earlier stage companies in spaces such as maps, payments or loyalty programs, but my first take is that Apple is not specifically trying to suffocate these efforts. This may be a contrarian view, as the more common narrative is that tech behemoths, such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, or Facebook copy or buy out good ideas built in their ecosystem and, as a result, stifle innovation.

????My perspective is that Apple's move to extend and improve these areas is the natural order of things for a platform owner managing the innovation of its ecosystem. The platform owner, Apple, has a business interest in enriching its platform, making its platform more functional and more attractive for developers to build against and ideally for users to consume. You can look to any mainstream platform, whether targeting gamers, consumer, social or enterprise -- XBOX, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Microsoft Windows Server or Amazon (AMZN) Web Services for example -- all expand the footprints and capabilities of their platforms to make them more functional for developers and ecosystem providers, for the purpose of providing a deeper and more useful end-user experience.

????So no startup can stand still. As Apple continues to raise the water line on its platform's functionality, startups are going to have to continue to innovate or they'll struggle. And in most (not all) cases, I worry more about the risk of a startup that fails to execute and continue to innovate, than I do a tech giant extending its platform into a space. Keep in mind, Apple's iCloud was supposed to kill Dropbox, and Apple's Ping was supposed to crush Pandora (P) or stop a Spotify before it come out. This is not a critique of Apple's innovation at all; I'm merely saying that startups that execute and innovate can continue to thrive.