I'm glad some one understands this, but you're a software developer so I'd expect you to know how big a deal fragmentation is. But here's Google's conundrum; their main selling point was this "perceived" open model. And since they are NOW trying to mimic Apple's model, why buy a Android device when I can buy an iOS device from a company with a far more polished "closed" (as Android fanboys like to call it) system? You know that these changes will take at least 2 years to matriculate.
People arent buying android phones because android is "open". Maybe techies do but everybody else is buying them because they have better features, bigger screens, more powerful, more customizable, better reception, better plans on more carriers...
They are just better devices. Just like the ipad is just better than most tablets right now.