Upsetting the Apple-cart: Google Just Torpedoed the iPhone's Profit Margins

Google's Nexus 4

Google just released its latest in-house Nexus branded smartphone and if you read the various reviews of this device over at The Verge, All Things D, VentureBeat, etc. you'd likely come away rather underwhelmed.

Mind you, most of these reviews are on the whole rather positive about the Nexus 4's hardware and Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) software. But many of the reviewers couldn't see their way past the Nexus 4's lack of LTE 4G data speeds.

For example, here's the conclusion of a Nexus 4 review by The Verge's Josh Topolsky, arguably gadgetdom's #1 geek:

The Nexus 4 is absolutely wonderful, but it's also vexing. Frustrating. Annoying. It's easily the best Android phone on the market right now, and has some of the most powerful software that's ever been put on a mobile phone. It's an upgrade from last year's Galaxy Nexus in every way. It's terrific — save for one small thing. 

In the US, a flagship phone without LTE is like a muscle car with no wheels. For other networks in other countries, and for the lucky T-Mobile customers out there that are getting great speeds on its HSPA+ network — great. No problem. Go get this phone. But for others — many others — it's hard to imagine buying this device when you know it's a generation behind in terms of network technology.

For a phone and an OS built for the cloud, I think it's unacceptable to not offer a version that takes advantage of our fastest mobile networks.

That's a pretty damning indictment from the former Editor-in-Chief of Engadget, and not exactly the kind of endorsement one would be looking for if you're interested in making the case, as I will be in this article, that Google's latest offering represents a very real threat to Apple's iPhone business.

Continue reading the full article at SeekingAlpha here.