The downside/upside to Android is that Google is allowing developers to replace core apps with ones that ARE GPU accelerated.
You want a GPU accelerated browser on Android? The default one sucks, but Opera Mobile (no mini) will pinch zoom or scroll just as smooth as mobile Safari.
You want a GPU accelerated launcher? The default one sucks, but the paid-for Launcher Pro uses the GPU and is as smooth as butter.
Eventually even if Google never fixes the GPU acceleration problems in Android (which is understandable, only Apple and Microsoft have that kind of talent in-house), the third party market will fix most of the problems eventually.
I think that is the first I have ever heard anyone say that Google DIDN'T have boatloads of very talented engineers. Now, I have heard said, and I agree, that they do not have DESIGN talent in house.
People say that Apple overemphasizes Form over Function, which they hold as a mark against them. And I agree to a point that they do often put Form ahead of Function. I just imagine what they could cram into their systems if they weren't quite so obsessed with having the thinnest and lightest (think 15hr battery in the iPad).
But the flip side of that is companies that put Function ahead of Form 9 times out of 10. And that appeals to certain people, which is great, thank goodness those companies are there, and quite frankly, i couldn't care less what product a complete stranger is using (I care with regards to family and friends since I am often their tech support). But I think that overemphasizing Function over Form can be just as bad as doing the opposite. You end up with something that just never quite feels right, that is just never quite done.
As Jobs put it once (and I am pulling from memory) 'People think that design is how it looks, it isn't. Design is how it works'