10 Ways Google Can Defend Its Android Turf Against Apple iPhone

5. Use its cash

Google can use its cash to its advantage. One of the virtues of being Google is the ability to acquire just about any company it wants, as long as it doesn't violate antitrust regulations. Although Apple has boatloads of cash of its own, it can't match Google. That's a key advantage for the Web giant. Google can continue to use acquisitions as a way to best the iPhone. Its acquisition of ReMail was a good start, but it needs to do more.

6. Go to marketing

If there's any company in the tech industry that can match Apple's marketing, it's Google. The Web company has historically done a fine job at getting its message across to consumers. If Google really wants to hold its ground against Apple, it needs to start advertising. The company must make it clear to consumers and even enterprise customers that the iPhone is not without faults.

7. Get after Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs truly believes that everything Apple does and offers is superior in the market. Google can capitalize on that. Jobs is viewed as the hero of Apple and one of the saviors of the tech industry. If Google wants to be successful in the mobile space, it needs to beat Jobs. And it needs to show the world that not everything Apple's CEO does turns to gold.

8. Use the Web

If there's anything Google fully understands, it's the Internet. Why the company hasn't been using the Web more effectively is anyone's guess. Android needs to feature far more Web-based components than it does right now. There's a real opportunity for Google to set a new standard in mobile operating system design that Apple won't be able to easily match. If Google can get to work on integrating more Web properties into its OS, it will be a step ahead of the iPhone.

9. Leverage relationships with carriers

One of the problems with offering the iPhone exclusively to AT&T is that other carriers don't take kindly to it. Google will continue to use that to its advantage. Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile are likely not too fond of Apple. At the same time, they want to capitalize on the burgeoning touch-screen-phone market. That's most easily achieved by working with Google. The more Google leverages those relationships, the more it can ensure that it will be a thorn in Apple's side for the foreseeable future.

10. Be Google

Perhaps most importantly, Google needs to remember to be itself. The search giant is one of the more respected organizations in the tech industry. It's also a household name that the mainstream trusts. In order for Google to defend its Android turf, the company needs to maintain its strategy of attempting to do what's right. Consumers have and will continue to respond to that. And if they see Apple as a closed-off behemoth, they might just defect to Google's shores.

If Google stays true to itself going forward, it can be successful against the iPhone.