A First Step in Google's New Android Strategy?

For this reason, this could be the break in the market that would cause Google to chart its own course with Android, offering its own branded devices and end-to-end services. Apple and Microsoft are likely to follow, if they don't do it first. Google is best suited to this approach, because it's got the largest volume of devices, available on every single carrier, unlike Apple so far.

I think the market in general is underestimating the magnitude of Google's options in terms of moving the balls forward for Android, Chrome OS, the Motorola hardware and new service strategies. It kind of feels like a wave cresting now, just in time for the I/O conference.

For these reasons, I believe the announcements we will see are going to be more significant than most people now anticipate.

At the time of publication, Wahlman was long GOOG, AAPL and QCOM.