Google's penetration of Android

It was interesting, though not terribly surprising, that Samsung found room in its announcement of the Galaxy S4 for a tap-dancing child and a live orchestra but not Google, and mentioned Android only once, in passing. It has been clear for a while that Samsung wants the Galaxy brand to replace the Android brand.  

What really draws out the potential importance of this, though, is to place Samsung's share of Android next to the share that comes from China. As most people know, most Android phones sold in China come with no Google services pre-installed - no Maps, Gmail, calendar, Play etc. It is possible but very fiddly to add them. In MWC I even saw a Motorola phone in this condition. 

Hence, Android in China (or an estimate thereof) plus Samsung (excluding its sales in China to avoid double-counting) adds up to 60% of all Android unit sales. Samsung never mentions Google services; China, by and large, doesn't have them. 

China alone is probably just under a third of total Android sales, meaning that Google's penetration of Android is no more than two thirds. Samsung has another third, and that is clearly marching off by itself, with the intention, perhaps, of reducing Android to the proverbial 'set of device drivers'. Hence, the portion of Android that is neither Samsung nor in China is only 40%. That must make some people nervous.