Apple’s mobile strategy for 2011 is straightforward: pick a release date for the iOS 5 based iPhone 5 on Verizon and AT&T (and perhaps Sprint and T-Mobile) along with the iPod touch 5 and iPad 3. But mobile rival Google’s strategy for the rest of the year is suddenly more hazy, as the company just bought the mobile division of Motorola, the company which manufactures the Verizon Droid among other Android based phones. This changes the landscape both in terms of the role of the Droid even as Verizon has set its sights on the iPhone 5 as its flagship instead, and it puts the fate of Google’s own Nexus line of Android phones in question. But how does this all relate to someone who’s already decided the iPhone 5 will be their next smartphone? Indirectly, of course.

 

Verizon hasn’t given up on selling the Droid altogether, but its former in-house flagship smartphone (a joint project with Motorola) was getting abused at the hands of AT&T’s iPhone to such an extent that Verizon cried uncle. After seeing Droid sales which were only about forty percent of that of the AT&T iPhone 4, Verizon decided that not only did it want the iPhone as its flagship instead, it didn’t even want to wait for the iPhone 5. As such, the Verizon iPhone 4 launched as a bridge earlier this year. And now Verizon says that its hopes for future growth are pinned on the iPhone 5, even going so far as to blame its lack of growth this quarter on the fact that the iPhone 5 hasn’t yet seen its release date. And yet now here comes Google itself buying the company which manufactures the Droid. In other words, even as Verizon is less interested in pushing the Droid than ever, Google is now set to push the Droid on its own. So even as Verizon gears up to push the iPhone 5 as if its future depends on it, get ready to watch Google/Motorola incongruously push the Droid on Verizon users. Oh, and as Google can make it all back from its Android-based mobile advertising network, expect the Droid to get really cheap or even free. This could cause Apple to have to seriously consider making the iPhone 5 less expensive than previous iPhones. See, told you this could relate back to the iPhone. But there’s more….