Google's Eric Schmidt Says Switch Your Apple Friends to Android

In a detailed post on Google's GOOG Google+ social network, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt offered step-by-step directions for his many friends who he said were switching from their Apple AAPL iPhones to one of several “more intuitive” Android smartphones.

In the post, Schmidt said, “Many of my iPhone friends are converting to Android.” He then went on to suggest that phones such as the Galaxy S4 by Samsung SSNLF, Motorola’s Verizon VZ Droid Ultra, and the Nexus 5 which is available on AT&T T, Sprint S, and T-Mobile TMUS, all have “better screens, are faster, and have a much more intuitive interface.”

The rest of the post contained information on everything you need to know to set up your new Android phone, including updating software, moving contacts, email, and music, as well as finding comparable Android apps for the ones you’ve been using on your Apple device.

Also discussed, swapping your SIM card out of your current iPhone and into an Android phone. This step, Schmidt said, may involve obtaining a nano-SIM to micro-SIM adapter to get the card to fit in your Android phone.

As a bonus Schmidt suggested Apple-to-Android converts switch to Google’s Chrome browser, which he said is “better in so many ways” and “free.” He also advised the use of two-factor authentication for both Gmail and Google accounts for better security.

“Like the people who moved from PCs to Macs and never switched back,” Schmidt wrote, “you will switch from iPhone to Android and never switch back as everything will be in the cloud, backed up, and there are so many choices for you.”

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As Schmidt noted, and IDC confirmed recently, “80% of the world, in the latest surveys, agrees on Android.” IDC data reported that the 211.6 million smartphone units shipped during Q3 accounted for 81 percent of all smartphone shipments. Also reported by IDC was the fact that overall smartphone space grew nearly 40 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2013.

ITPro said Schmidt’s post was likely timed to coincide with the important holiday shopping season. After all, the more Android handsets sold and in use, the more Google stands to gain in advertising through AdWords, the most significant driver of revenue the company has.

At the time of this writing, Jim Probasco had no position in any mentioned securities.