Agreed. If you look at the pre-iPhone world the dominant way to access web content was WAP - a closed protocol for accessing strictly controlled services managed by the carriers. Blackberry was working closely with carriers to develop closed, branded services with them and Windows Mobile couldn't run a proper browser and had low market share.

I think Google's strategy was to provide no-name handset manufacturers, without the clout to develop these proprietary services or make such deals, with a cheap platform that could browse the web and access Google services. It was a desperate attempt to avoid a world where all mobile services were carrier controlled.

In hindsight they actually needn't have bothered. Apple had sufficient leverage with the iPhone to avoid having to make carrier on-line service lock-in deals. Still, Google couldn't afford to risk that changing, or Apple locking in users to services of it's own.