The Bad News Bears: Google Misses Wall Street Expectations And Android Has Malware

Uh oh. The bloodletting has become visible. In a strange set of circumstances Google’s latest financial results were released early and incomplete, the stock took a nose dive, and the company’s Motorola division is beginning to look like a pig in a poke.

To be fair, Google made a lot of money the last quarter but it was far less than Wall Street’s misguided expectations. Worse, ad clicks declined substantially year over year, which indicates Google’s one-trick gravy train needs a shot of enthusiasm.

The good news for Google is that unlike RIM or Nokia, Google is much farther away from going broke. The bad news for Google is that advertisers and users have yet to create any love for mobile advertising. And the world is moving toward mobile devices, which is away from Google’s wheelhouse.

More bad news came from a report of a young French hacker who was arrested for spreading a virus to Android smartphone users. Big deal, right? Except this hacker managed to steal small sums of money from 17,000 Android OS users– to the tune of over $600,000.

Ouch.

In fact, the bloodletting and bad news seems to be stalking all of Apple’s major competitors, including Samsung.

Analysts are calling Microsoft’s Surface RT tablet the next Zune. Industry veteran soothsayer John Dvorak says the Surface is too pricey. Microsoft’s Windows Phone buddy Nokia announced sales are down 28-percent overall, and down by half in the U.S.

While Apple rules the high end of the tablet market, the low end where Google and Amazon have found little comfort and no profit just became more crowded as retailer Best Buy announced their own Android tablet.

Google and Amazon say their tablets are sold at cost. Neither announce sales numbers. Neither announce how much profit they can make by selling content to users. RIM, Nokia, and Microsoft lose money on smartphones in Apple’s wake.

How long can this bloodletting continue?