It seems that you are right. However, if we keep on point, we see that prepaid phones do not offer a cheaper alternative. Virgin has the 4s for $650.00. If you trace back the conversation, you'll see that prepaid phones were brought up as a side note. The real issue was whether or not iPhones are as widely available around the world in countries and on network for free with contracts as are Samsung phones. They are not.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's Share of Worldwide Smartphone Market Slides as Samsung Continues to Surge
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It seems that you are right. However, if we keep on point, we see that prepaid phones do not offer a cheaper alternative. Virgin has the 4s for $650.00. If you trace back the conversation, you'll see that prepaid phones were brought up as a side note. The real issue was whether or not iPhones are as widely available around the world in countries and on network for free with contracts as are Samsung phones. They are not.
Consider this statement: "The number of customers is proportionate to the number of products". If you consider this statement true, why doesn't Apple make more products? Are they stupid?
<Tim Cook Memo To You> Why didn't you post this 12 months ago? It's too late to change anything now
I'm pretty sure no matter *what* Apple releases, some people will justify it as a "minor" upgrade that isn't enough.
What £31 a month vs £28 for the s3 both free phones and 2years deals hardly the highest tariff and I doubt the £3 a month saving is pushing people to the s3 alone
Samsung still has wider availability, more pricing options worldwide, and a much wider smartphone portfolio. For instance, take Apple's marketshare and divide it by the number of smartphone models currently on the market from them and do the same for Samsung. That's why you see iPhone models as the top sellers even though Samsung beats them overall.
A free iphone on CDMA carriers and more pre-paid and regional carrier options will help Apple in the next iteration. Perhaps they'll finally add T-mobile too. I imagine they could move a million units or so a quarter if Sprint can move near 2 million.
A free iphone on CDMA carriers and more pre-paid and regional carrier options will help Apple in the next iteration. Perhaps they'll finally add T-mobile too. I imagine they could move a million units or so a quarter if Sprint can move near 2 million.
I'm afraid you are mistaken. It's not necessarily a larger number of products that allows for more customers, although it probably has an effect, but a range of products available at a wide range of prices. You can supply products to every demographic when your products span the full range of prices.
Yes you can buy an iPhone 3GS for free with a contract. But 1. it's not actually free on a contract, and 2. you cannot pick up low cost iPhones anywhere near as widely as you can with Samsung phones.
----------
Instead of using number of "smartphones" shipped as some conclusive indication that Apple and the iPhone are falling out of favor in the public eye, why not turn to research that addresses that directly. Last time I checked, Apple was a far more popular and satisfying brand. Of course this may have changed very recently, but I don't think this is the information we should be using to make that assessment.
While they have more market share, but Apple has more profit share.
One stop shopping is what made the iPhone so popular. You could get everything you needed in the iPhone/itune ecosystem, something that was eventually copied by everyone else. While Samsung had choice, most consumers chose the iPhone.
Apple tried opening up their operating system to other platforms which ended up being a big mistake. As their competitors undersold them, something they wish not to repete.
Agreed. The screen is a big thing and the iPhone 5 mockups are losers if its true.
Lol. Really?? Maybe to Apple execs, but not to the many iPhone users I know seriously considering switching to better Android phones.
No, I'm not mistaken. It's not black or white it's in the gray. More options of course bring more customers, but not proportionately to the number of products. And again, how is this a bad thing?
I have seen the phone. You can talk about "specs" but 90% of people who buy phones are picking them up and feeling them, looking at the screen, etc.... Pickup the iPhone 4 or 4s and it SUCKs compared to the SIII or the One X. Been hoping for a redesign for the iPhone 5 but so far the rumors are not looking good.
Oh, and I was comparing it to the rumors about the unreleased iPhone 5 as well as the 4s
I think you make some good points.
But since Apple's share is growing, and their user base is growing, we should be careful when we talk about users "moving to Samsung".
Apple will be a player for quite a long time to come, especially as many have fully integrated Apple products into their home entertainment solutions.
Also, Apple sells VERY well with customers 50+ in age. It's a nice safe option for older consumers who don't want to deal with anything complicated.
However, will Apple be the market leader? Not a chance.
Will their profits decline year after year? Most certainly.
Will their stock drop to half what it is now? Of course it will.
That said, Apple aint going anywhere... and one of those directions is up.
Also, Apple sells VERY well with customers 50+ in age. It's a nice safe option for older consumers who don't want to deal with anything complicated.
However, will Apple be the market leader? Not a chance.
Will their profits decline year after year? Most certainly.
Will their stock drop to half what it is now? Of course it will.
That said, Apple aint going anywhere... and one of those directions is up.
Yeah cause I pick my phones based on how much margin the manufacturer makes its my only concern when buying a new phone
Who said anything was bad? I do not recall making any value judgements. I am simply helping you understand that having products available at every price point certainly does allow you access you a larger number of customers. You had trouble understanding how more products would allow this... so I'm helping you out. If I recall, you said something like, 'The argument is trash. Having more products doesn't magically spawn new customers out of nowhere.' No, it doesn't. But having varied pricing option DOES allow first time buyers a low cost entry into the smartphone space. Considering that the vast majority of the world are suffering financially, this really does make a very big difference.
LOL! Like the majority of it is big screen. My friend has Samsung phone and its screen is tiny. One even has Galaxy brand but really cheap. I'm beginning to think fandroids are delusional.
You are probably not going to see top of the line phones ( iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxey II, III ect. ) being offered for free. More then likely its going to be the lower cost ones. Considering Apple does not really offer cheap phones, unless its an older model with lower specs. Althoug I'm not aware of all the different service carriers and what they may offer.
That's exactly right. And I'd venture to say that Samsung's lead in number shipped comes from the products that ARE offered cheaply, and not from the "top of the line phones".
In other words, if we removed all of the cheaper Samsung phones from the equation and kept only their top phones, they would likely be selling no more than Apple, perhaps fewer.
The statement is roughly true by definition but you can't increase the number of buyers by having a greater variety of products unless those products target different markets, in which case lumping them back together as though one is analysing one market is a mistake. It's like saying the grocery store sold more product than the baker - it relies on pretty obvious equivocation. The unit 'smartphone' is about as useful as the unit 'electronic device' or 'consumer good' for this analysis, which is to say, not very useful at all, because it occludes too much.
