Google Chairman Says Android Winning Mobile War With Apple

Google’s Android is extending its lead over Apple in the mobile-software market at a rate that compares with Microsoft’s expansion in desktop software in the 1990s, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said.

Booming demand for Android-based smartphones is helping Google add share at the expense of other software providers, Schmidt said in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. Android snared 72 percent of the market in the third quarter, while Apple had 14 percent, according to Gartner. Customers are activating more than 1.3 million Android devices a day, Schmidt said. “This is a huge platform change; this is of the scale of 20 years ago -- Microsoft versus Apple,” he said. “We’re winning that war pretty clearly now.” Schmidt’s remarks reflect Google’s growing confidence in its ability to attract users and advertisers as more customers rely on handheld devices and shun traditional computers.