Apple Must Bring All Its Resources to Bear

 

5. Apply marketing muscle to fight Google gains 

One of the best things Apple ever did was use its marketing muscle to wage a war on Microsoft and Windows. The result was an increase in Mac sales. It should follow a similar strategy against Google and Android. It can draw correlations between Microsoft and Google, and show why its product and the company are more reliable. If it can prove that point as effectively as it did against Microsoft, Google could have a serious identity crisis on its hands. 

6. Deliver something exciting to the next iPhone 

The iPhone is central to the success or failure of Apple's efforts to stymie Android's growth. With that in mind, Apple needs to find a way to deliver something totally out of the ordinary with the next update to its smartphone. Whether that means a new feature consumers haven't considered or major improvements to issues with the smartphone, Apple needs to find something that pushes the rest of the hardware competitors back. 

7. Work with Verizon-now 

Verizon is an important component in Apple's plan to hold Android back. With the carrier's help, Apple's smartphones can finally be made available to millions more customers. In the process, Apple can limit the impact of Android's availability on so many different networks. Ubiquity matters in the mobile market. It's time Apple realizes that. 

8. Focus on Google, not the smartphone universe 

The last thing Apple should do is try to start a marketing war involving all the smartphone competition as well as Google and the search giant's vendor partners. It's not that Apple couldn't win in such a fight, but there is a real possibility that it could be biting off far more than it can chew. In the process, it will lose its focus on its desire to take Google down. Apple needs to concentrate all of its efforts on Google.  

9. Look beyond smartphones

Google is currently competing most effectively in the smartphone space, but in the coming year, the company's Android platform will undoubtedly make a splash in the tablet market far more than it has already. When that happens, Apple will need to worry about Google in multiple markets. It's best if Apple starts considering that now and finds unique ways to stem Google's growth in that space. With any luck, the company will do a better job of holding off Google in the tablet market than it did with smartphones. 

10. Make the iPad a major contributor 

Speaking of tablets, it's important that Apple ensures that the iPad is a key contributor to the success of its plan to stymie Android's growth. As recent sales have shown, the iPad is a highly desirable product in today's mobile market. The chances of any Android-based product stopping that anytime soon seem awfully slim. Apple can use that to its advantage, and ensure that the iPad does its part to slow Android's growth in today's mobile market.