Why hate android? There are reasons to dislike it, and there is no need to repeat them.

But in case of small batch startup trying to build smartphone/UMPC there is no alternative. It gives smaller companies an ability to build something different without wasting limited resources on ecosystem development. Like it or not but it's almost impossible to do day to day stuff without iOS/Android smartphone. We are currently in duopoly of iOS and Android, and the first one isn't available for general public.

Sailfish isn't ready as an alternative yet, others are just geek toys(that we like), or running on life support to fulfill corporate contacts.