Last week it was rumored that iMessage for Android could be in the works. Apple has a reputation for being closed off to platforms that aren’t their own, and while they have been open to the idea of other companies like Microsoft and Google develop for their devices, they haven’t exactly returned the favor, save for Apple Music.That being said, WWDC kicked off earlier this week and we have to say that we were a little surprised to learn that iMessage would not be making its way onto Android, so the question is, why not? According to reporter Walt Mossberg, it seems that one of the reasons is because Apple believes that having an exclusive feature like iMessage would drive sales of their products.
“When I asked a senior Apple executive why iMessage wasn’t being expanded to other platforms, he gave two answers. First, he said, Apple considers its own user base of 1 billion active devices to provide a large enough data set for any possible AI learning the company is working on. And, second, having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sales of those devices — the company’s classic (and successful) rationale for years.”
This is similar to the line of thinking that BlackBerry had back in the day when BBM was exclusive to BlackBerry devices, although BBM has since expanded to other platforms. We’re also not sure if having iMessage is compelling enough to purchase an Apple product, but what do you guys think? Does that explanation make sense?