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ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
As an iOS and Android developer, I'd like Google to explain to me why it is that over 60% of Android users are still running a version released 2 years ago (Gingerbread is now 2 years + 1 week old, and still has over 50% of the Android market share: http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html ) while 60% of iOS users were running iOS 6 within a month of its release ( http://insights.chitika.com/2012/ios-6-adoption-one-month/ )

I understand that Google would like to pass the buck to OEMs, but really, I don't think that's fair. Google can't simultaneously say "Look how awesome we are! We have such huge market share!" - because really, they have nothing without the OEMs making phones running Android - and "It's their fault they don't release our updates!".

I may as well be called an Android developer. Developing for iOS is just too easy. Something that takes a week to implement in iOS takes 10 weeks in Android because I have to find a way to do it that worked under Gingerbread if I'd like to support more than 25% of devices. I end up spending much more time working with Android code than iOS code.
 

Newton70

macrumors regular
Sep 29, 2011
105
0
What a bunch of crock! I'm sorry, Eric, but what about the vast majority of web traffic, revenue, profit etc etc etc being led by iOS?!?! The fact that iOS leads in the aforementioned categories while "losing" the mobile war is what's truly astonishing. At the rate Apple is accumulating cash (from it's "losing" venture in the mobile space), it can buy google outright in about 2 years.
 

Masterkona

macrumors member
Oct 13, 2012
54
0
What a disgrace. This clown is basically saying Google is winning a war against Apple because Google has a monopoly on data. I see anti-trust problems emerging. This guy basically just compared himself to Microsoft in the 90's. What an a hole. Someone needs to remind him who controls 75-80% of industry profit with 14% market share. Someone also needs to remind him that the bigger the pie, the more pie there is to lose. Android has higher conversion rate than IOS. My suspicion is that many bought Android because Apple didn't have 4G yet. Now that it does I expect many to either switch or buy in. Call it my gut instinct :D

Simply put, when you give away your OS of course you'll get a bigger piece of the pie. However, keeping it as people wise up to what your doing is another story altogether.

Saying Google is winning because of market share is like saying Fiat is beating Ferrari because they sell 30-50x more cars. This is completely ignoring the fact that it's taking hundreds of Android phones to compete with a single IOS phone.
 

jctevere

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2009
277
26
How does having a greater market share = "winning" in the smartphone realm?

I'm not trying to say that Android phones are garbage and that iOS is better. I'm more interested in SALES, not number of phones shipped.

For that matter, I'm also pretty sure that tablets are counted in their "smartphone market share" calculations - which makes absolutely NO sense to me, as they are not phones and distort the numbers.

Furthermore, exactly what do they consider Android "smartphones". Any phone that has any android operating system? "Android" is just a meaningless name that covers products ranging from a whole lot of feature-phone devices being sold with Android 2.x on them (Google says somewhere around 75% of its active installed base is still running a 2 year old 2.x version) as well as various incompatible forks of Android that are neither compatible with or even opened to Google's own services...

So again - how is this a clear cut victory?
 

irDigital0l

Guest
Dec 7, 2010
2,901
0
Google is starting to seem to have the edge over Apple for mobile now.

They got their Google Maps all good as Apple failed pretty bad. Also they updated Google Docs and Android 4.2.

Its not over for Apple, but Apple certainly has to take things a lot more seriously.
 
Aug 26, 2008
1,339
1
How does having a greater market share = "winning" in the smartphone realm?

I'm not trying to say that Android phones are garbage and that iOS is better. I'm more interested in SALES, not number of phones shipped.

For that matter, I'm also pretty sure that tablets are counted in their "smartphone market share" calculations - which makes absolutely NO sense to me, as they are not phones and distort the numbers.

Furthermore, exactly what do they consider Android "smartphones". Any phone that has any android operating system? "Android" is just a meaningless name that covers products ranging from a whole lot of feature-phone devices being sold with Android 2.x on them (Google says somewhere around 75% of its active installed base is still running a 2 year old 2.x version) as well as various incompatible forks of Android that are neither compatible with or even opened to Google's own services...

So again - how is this a clear cut victory?

I think the clear cut victory is coming from the percentages right now. Globally Android is completely dominating, and it's still relatively early days yet. Remember Windows didn't really "win" until Windows 95 came out, a full 11 years after the Mac. 11 years after the introduction of the iPhone will take us to 2018.

Do you really think in another 5 years Android, and smartphone hardware, won't be totally amazing AND cheap? This is Apple's problem. The vast majority of their profits are carrier subsidized. I personally don't see how that model is sustainable, when 350 dollar super phones, like the Nexus 4, are hitting the shelves today. What happens in 5 years when Android is on every kind of device, has the best OS, any software can be installed on it, and hardware for it is cheap? How does Apple, with a completely closed and expensive model, really compete with that? Not only will Apple's market share probably be in tiny digits, I don't think they would be able to charge anywhere near the margins they have now and maintain even said small market share. Or if the margin is the same percent, the whole dollar numbers will drop, which means their profit still drops.

Does vertical integration ever win in the long run? Apple simply cannot out engineer the whole world. Things are going at a break neck pace, and you have Apple trying to do absolutely everything in house, meanwhile the rest of the world collaborates, innovates, and leaps ahead of Apple.

Android will be dominant. It seems unavoidable.
 

neutrino23

macrumors 68000
Feb 14, 2003
1,881
391
SF Bay area
I wonder if they have lost control of Android. Chinese companies are repurposing it without using Google search or ads. Lots of companies are using it to build feature phones which really don't present ads or use search. I wonder if Google actually makes more money from iOS or Android?
 

iMikeT

macrumors 68020
Jul 8, 2006
2,304
1
California
Of couuuuurrrrrrrsssee he's going to say that. He is the former CEO and current chairman of Google.

If anything, this is a quantity vs. quality statement. Android is becoming the Windows of the mobile space where it's slapped on any device despite how wonky it is.
 

ericthered

macrumors member
Jan 31, 2007
70
4
no where
Apple user, not a fan boy

And very very happy with my Note2. Yes it's big. And fast and flexible.
Have had 3 generations of iPhone and for now I'm done with iOS.
I do have to admit that Samsung's Kies is a POS but doubletwist is very nice.

Apple had better pay attention or I think they will be a footnote.
I hope they do pay attention as competition makes for better toys.

IMO Apple's iphone is rapidly headed in the direction of RIM if they don't keep up.
 

Blakjack

macrumors 68000
Jun 23, 2009
1,805
317
Eric still fights over whose turn it is to play with the Legos. #Moooooooooom!!!!!
 

SatManager

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2012
277
12
Las Vegas
It will be interesting to see how iOS 7 changes the perception that the Apple iOS is stale and dated. Apple does need to upgrade a bit more often as Samsung is coming out with some features that customers would like to have. While I have my own concerns with NFC, Samsung has made it the "new thing" to have as a feature.
 

wikus

macrumors 68000
Jun 1, 2011
1,795
2
Planet earth.
I've been running MIUI for over a year now with a MyTouch 4G and its been a total delight with Android. Bug-free, quick, ridiculously customizable, great battery life and a ton of features that just aren't available with stock android (and especially not available on iOS).

HOWEVER,

I really wish Google would be more anal about setting a standard for manufacturers and carriers with Android OS, particularly crappy skins of Android that are slow as hell (stock ROM for MyTouch 4G was garbage) and especially allowing manufacturers get swindled by carriers and slap on BLOATWARE. Holy crap, take a page out of Apple's book and release phones that don't ship with junk.

Google's got a wicked and open platform, but they really need to do a better job at quality control for the noobs who don't know how to root and flash roms. I'm pretty tech savvy so I get the benefit of having the best mobile device experience, but noobs should have that privilege as well.
 

roxxette

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2011
1,507
0
What's the market share for iOS-comparable androids? Not all gphones are using good hardware; most of it is lowest tier possible just to enter poor markets.

Thats not the case anymore, high end android devices are selling a lot; good example are samsung galaxy range and the Note range that proved people dont mind huge screens.

Next year will be a good to see who really have the upper hand.
 

Duncan-Idaho

macrumors member
Jan 15, 2008
33
0
"The better product" - well, thats subjective isn't it? What is "the better product"? Ask half a dozen people and you'd get various answers.

The better product is Apple's. Don't be a freakin' post-structuralist. "What is good? what is bad?" Any moron can look at an Apple product and see it's better designed, even considering their occasional errors. Anyone who says otherwise has their head up their ass. Please somebody hate me for saying this. Strike me down with your hate, Android fanboys and post-structuralists.
 

SomeDudeAsking

macrumors 65816
Nov 23, 2010
1,250
2
I see the Apple loyalists here have gotten themselves really riled up because they can't stand being second best.
 

Yamcha

macrumors 68000
Mar 6, 2008
1,825
158
Android is getting better, but frankly iOS has provided a great experience from the very start.

Most applications and games on the Android platform are not optimized for all devices, they are just stretched out versions of the app or game. Some Android Tablets or Phones can't even update to the latest and greatest version of the OS..

In terms of performance and experience, iOS is still in my opinion the best out there.. An example I could give is despite my iPod Touch 4G having slower hardware It's still faster then my brothers Galaxy Nexus, even with Jellybean installed..

So I'd say in terms of overall experience iOS is still the best. There are certainly features in Android OS that I do like though..
 

RawBert

macrumors 68000
Jan 19, 2010
1,729
70
North Hollywood, CA
Apple is making way more money than Google in this 'war' - so, who's winning?
The fact that Android has more market share does not mean the've won any war. ...among other things
Why bother with such a stupid comment. Oh right, it's Eric.

Android is a pretty good OS, btw.
 
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