Android Boss Brushed Aside in Spring Cleaning
Is it coincidence that Google CEO Larry Page announced that Android head Andy Rubin has “decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google” the same day Google released the latest projects that the company is dropping in “spring cleaning,” including Google Reader? It’s impossible to say what caused the replacement of Rubin with Sundar Pichai, who will add Android responsibilities to his Chrome and Apps leadership roles at Google, but it’s possible that Android was essentially getting too popular without actually contributing that much to Google’s bottom line (only $550 million from 2008 through 2011, by some estimates). What changes Pichai will bring to the Android ecosystem — and how that will affect the iOS world — are a matter for speculation.
I don't think it's a coincident and I agree with your view that contribution to bottom line is the key. The question then is, how can a Chrome OS for smartphones contribute more to Google's bottom line compared to Android. I am concerned that with the data compression proxy that Google is building into Chrome browser, Google might want to capture all your online activity on their servers, including network activity from the apps on your smartphone. By restricting apps to webapps, Google could funnel all network activity through their servers.