Android and iOS Continue to Dominate Smartphone Market as Windows Phone Shows Signs of Life

TWSS37 · May 16, 2013

Sora said:
]What most people don't realize is that there is only 1 manufacturer of iOS devices - Apple.

There are hundreds of manufacturers of Android capable devices.[/B]

You can't compare the output of 1 manufacturer to the output of combining 100's of manufacturers. Doesn't lend itself to a even comparison.

That said I'm very impressed with where Apple is from a manufacturing stand point. Year over year they have demonstrated that they can continue to ship more units (through more efficient manufacturing methods or strategic retail alignments). Impressive.

Anyone who comes to this site should know this as it's repeated in every thread, multiple times, when it comes to device statistics and usage.

I've never met anyone, EVER, from beginner user to advanced, who think that you could buy an iPhone NOT made by Apple.

Your statement "you can't compare the output of 1 manufacturer..." is completely bogus. APPLE is the one who makes that decision. They CHOOSE to develop the hardware and software. Don't blame Google's business model versus Apple's for why 3 out of every 4 phones are using Android. Your post and reasoning is all FUD based spin.

BaldiMac · May 16, 2013

PedroCst said:
I've read an article somewhere on Flipboard that said 95% of Android marketshare was Samsung's.

Maybe profits, not market share.

tongxinshe said:
Yes, if the market can make everyone do similar things like this. In that way everyone will strive harder and the technology will advance faster.

Either you are talking about something else, or there are some massive leaps in logic here.

I wasn't asking about any particular market. The point was to distance the question from Apple bias.

I was asking would you, personally, rather build:
a) 100 widgets and get paid $20
b) 20 widgets and get paid $100

Assume it requires approximately the same amount of time and effort to make each widget.

GoldenJoe · May 16, 2013

tongxinshe said:
The US is not the world. It is not even representative.

I think it's fair to say that the US is the leading market for mobile devices. But for sake of argument, let's say that those numbers are accurate, and the rest of the world just loves Android and Windows that much. Why are their app store revenues so weak by comparison? If iOS is less popular worldwide, but many iOS developers still see over half their revenue coming from foreign app stores, then why are the more popular platforms performing so poorly? Maybe there is a good explanation, but it just doesn't make sense to me on the surface.

pirg · May 16, 2013

GoldenJoe said:
I think it's fair to say that the US is the leading market for mobile devices. But for sake of argument, let's say that those numbers are accurate, and the rest of the world just loves Android and Windows that much. Why are their app store revenues so weak by comparison? If iOS is less popular worldwide, but many iOS developers still see over half their revenue coming from foreign app stores, then why are the more popular platforms performing so poorly? Maybe there is a good explanation, but it just doesn't make sense to me on the surface.

The explanation is that cheap android phones are used as feature phones. Android is dominating when it comes to marketshare. That domination translates into nothing tangible.

TWSS37 · May 16, 2013

Jsameds said:
Don't forget that only 25% of Android phones are running the latest firmware (Jellybean).

Assuming the Android phones running Jellybean are the fastest, flagship Android phones (ie the real competitors to the iPhone and not the cheapy low end ones), there's not much between that and iOS at all.

I know my logic is probably flawed somewhere here, but it's just something to keep in mind when looking at OS marketshare.

What does anything you have posted have to do with the article? 75% of users are running Android. Does not matter if it's the lowest of the low phone running Donut or a shiny quad core running Jelly Bean.

Your logic isn't flawed, it simply doesn't exist.

pirg · May 16, 2013

TWSS37 said:
What does anything you have posted have to do with the article? 75% of users are running Android. Does not matter if it's the lowest of the low phone running Donut or a shiny quad core running Jelly Bean.

Your logic isn't flawed, it simply doesn't exist.

I agree here. There's no disputing android has a commanding almost embarrassing lead over ios in marketshare.

Means nothing though.

TWSS37 · May 16, 2013

ElTorro said:
The chart is pretty clear, OS vs OS, and 75% is a pretty healthy chunk for Android.
You have to use some extremely twisted logic to claim that iOS is still winning. It's actually aiming into the irrelevant category and soon it will be below 10%.

Hey! Someone who gets what this chart is saying!

BaldiMac · May 16, 2013

tongxinshe said:
If it is an industry that requires millions of other smaller players around (software, websites, accessories, etc.) to make any final product, definitely I choose the latter, because that means I am at a definitely safe place and I will eventually squeeze out the rest 5% to less than 2% (and thus irrelevant) in a foreseeable future.

Kinda like how Windows eventually squeezed out the Mac? Oh, wait, that didn't happen. The Mac is more profitable than ever and has increased it's market share every year for 6 years.

TWSS37 said:
What does anything you have posted have to do with the article? 75% of users are running Android. Does not matter if it's the lowest of the low phone running Donut or a shiny quad core running Jelly Bean.

Your logic isn't flawed, it simply doesn't exist.

The only thing to question here is that the table is meant to compare platforms, and Android isn't a single platform. IDC includes any device with an OS derived from the Android source code. Even when the OS is not Android-compatible.

(And yes, it does matter if the device is running Donut or Jelly Bean! Except to those who simply want to look at market share without any context.)

4TheLoveOfTech · May 16, 2013

alexgowers said:
Why do they continue to lump android into one box as a catch all?

Android is not a single operating systems but instead a fractured set of different OS's based on android. They are not interchangeable and rely on a manufacturer to update them not at an OS level.

The android market is so fragmented that it should not even be counted as a smart phone OS, it's even on feature phones that have limited functionality.

I really wish they would divide these data sets into phones not OS, I would class many phones as dead weight and not fully featured.

Windows gaining market share is stupid, they have so little that honestly even a small increase would result in massive percentage increases. They spend more on advertising than anyone and they are still only 3%. It's a poor product and everyone knows it.

They do

Mac rumors article on April 26th, 2012

The article stats are specifically about Smartphone Market Share. From the same source (IDC).
Samsung has more market share and is growing significantly faster than Apple.

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/26/apples-share-of-smartphone-market-slips-as-smartphones-outsell-feature-phones-for-first-time/

jrswizzle · May 16, 2013

They need to start splitting marketshare reports like this out based on Android skins.....

Is it really fair to lump TouchWiz and Sense into the same group just because they are both based on Android, when the reality is they are vastly different both aesthetically and feature-wise.....

Give me a list that goes like this....

TouchWiz marketshare
Sense Marketshare
iOS marketshare
Amazon OS marketshare
WP8 marketshare
BB10 marketshare
Stock Android marketshare

etc.....

I think that is a better way of comparing and infinitely more informative.

----------

alexgowers said:
Why do they continue to lump android into one box as a catch all?

Android is not a single operating systems but instead a fractured set of different OS's based on android. They are not interchangeable and rely on a manufacturer to update them not at an OS level.

The android market is so fragmented that it should not even be counted as a smart phone OS, it's even on feature phones that have limited functionality.

I really wish they would divide these data sets into phones not OS, I would class many phones as dead weight and not fully featured.

Windows gaining market share is stupid, they have so little that honestly even a small increase would result in massive percentage increases. They spend more on advertising than anyone and they are still only 3%. It's a poor product and everyone knows it.

Damn.....two posts in row I throw out there with points that have already been said almost word-for-word! lol

QFT

4TheLoveOfTech · May 16, 2013

pirg said:
I agree here. There's no disputing android has a commanding almost embarrassing lead over ios in marketshare.

Means nothing though.

If you are an Apple shareholder it means a lot. Otherwise just the developers should actually care if they only develop for iOS. Then a shrinking market share would eventually impact sales.

TWSS37 · May 16, 2013

pirg said:
I agree here. There's no disputing android has a commanding almost embarrassing lead over ios in marketshare.

Means nothing though.

Oh I don't disagree about what the graph means. Just don't try and spin this chart and article into something it's not. No one ever makes such a distinction about other businesses, why should it apply here?

4TheLoveOfTech · May 16, 2013

jrswizzle said:
They need to start splitting marketshare reports like this out based on Android skins.....

Is it really fair to lump TouchWiz and Sense into the same group just because they are both based on Android, when the reality is they are vastly different both aesthetically and feature-wise.....

Give me a list that goes like this....

TouchWiz marketshare
Sense Marketshare
iOS marketshare
Amazon OS marketshare
WP8 marketshare
BB10 marketshare
Stock Android marketshare

etc.....

I think that is a better way of comparing and infinitely more informative.

----------

Damn.....two posts in row I throw out there with points that have already been said almost word-for-word! lol

QFT

Would you then have to break out the phones that don't get Siri and Apple Maps? That would by your definition mean it's a different operating system.

Doesn't hold a very strong argument when you look at it that way does it?

pirg · May 16, 2013

4TheLoveOfTech said:
If you are an Apple shareholder it means a lot. Otherwise just the developers should actually care if they only develop for iOS. Then a shrinking market share would eventually impact sales.

Stocks prices are based on marketshare, now? Not saying that's not what's happening, but that's not what stock price should be based on. If so, msft would have the highest stock price known to man.

Marketshare means nothing, other than a pissing contest on forums like these. Apple's stock is taking a hit because their profit growth is slowing. They never had a problem with stock price/marketshare ratio before their profits started slowing.

Anyone who invests in stocks based on marketshare is a little dense.

As for the developer loyalty, that doesn't seem to be the case either. Developers are making way more money on ios than anywhere else AND they mostly say they are happy with apple. Apple's marketshare had been in a freefall for two years. Doesn't seem to have affected apple one bit as far as developers are concerned.

Is there any tangible benefit to the consumer or to any company because of android marketshare?

Liquorpuki · May 16, 2013

tongxinshe said:
If Apple did that 3 years or longer ago, yes, that might be true. But its too late by now, none of them can reverse the trend now even if they are given for free.

The bigger picture is you don't give something away for free unless you have a clear monetization strategy. Apple gives away iCloud for free because it locks people into the ecosystem and buying future Apple hardware. Google gives away Maps for free because it can charge companies to stick their logo on it.

There's no point in Apple, MS, BB etc giving away their OS for free if it's not gonna make them money.

tjl3 said:
I might have missed a post here or there, but in all the hoopla about Apple's declining market share are we also missing the point that Google has a problem on their hands? Samsung's 95% profit share is insane! For all intents and purposes, they have a huge bargaining chip on their side, as well as what you mentioned, Tizen in the background. If Samsung were to ever exit the Android market, doesn't have to be in full, Google is going to have a mess on their hands!

Yeah and this is why Google now has to spend even more $$$ to put out that X Phone - to wrestle control of Android back from Samsung. Samsung owning the Android market gives them leverage to do things like renegotiate licensing, introduce Google Services substitutes, and dump Android to little effect if Tizen ever becomes a worthy replacement. It also makes them more likely to fork it.

tekboi · May 16, 2013

Pretty soon it's just going to be Android dominating the market if Apple doesn't step it up and start innovating again.

BaldiMac · May 16, 2013

4TheLoveOfTech said:
Would you then have to break out the phones that don't get Siri and Apple Maps? That would by your definition mean it's a different operating system.

Doesn't hold a very strong argument when you look at it that way does it?

Sure, if you want to break out Touchwiz by Android OS version.

4TheLoveOfTech · May 16, 2013

pirg said:
Stocks prices are based on marketshare, now? Not saying that's not what's happening, but that's not what stock price should be based on. If so, msft would have the highest stock price known to man.

Marketshare means nothing, other than a pissing contest on forums like these. Apple's stock is taking a hit because their profit growth is slowing. They never had a problem with stock price/marketshare ratio before their profits started slowing.

Anyone who invests in stocks based on marketshare is a little dense.

As for the developer loyalty, that doesn't seem to be the case either. Developers are making way more money on ios than anywhere else AND they mostly say they are happy with apple. Apple's marketshare had been in a freefall for two years. Doesn't seem to have affected apple one bit as far as developers are concerned.

Is there any tangible benefit to the consumer or to any company because of android marketshare?

People and Hedge Funds invest in a company based on future potential growth.

The market dropped so heavily yesterday because Major Hedge Funds dropped large percentage of their Apple Shares and others followed in a panic.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100740926

----------

BaldiMac said:
Sure, if you want to break out Touchwiz by Android OS version.

Why? You just get additional benefits on top of Android. With older Apple phones you lose functionality.

dba415 · May 16, 2013

75% Android and only 17% for iPhone? Apple has allowed Google to take over the smartphone industry. This is truly pathetic on Apple's part.

BaldiMac · May 16, 2013

4TheLoveOfTech said:
Why? You just get additional benefits on top of Android. With older Apple phones you lose functionality.

With older Android versions you lose functionality as well.

4TheLoveOfTech · May 16, 2013

BaldiMac said:
What in the world?

With older Android versions you lose functionality as well.

That was my point about the lack of logic breaking out Brands and Versions of Android. It is still an OS. Just as Microsoft still has a large percentage of computers on XP and older OS's. They are still running Windows.

jrswizzle · May 16, 2013

4TheLoveOfTech said:
Would you then have to break out the phones that don't get Siri and Apple Maps? That would by your definition mean it's a different operating system.

Doesn't hold a very strong argument when you look at it that way does it?

So you're saying the difference between Sense and Touchwiz is one or two features?

Give me a break.....

pirg · May 16, 2013

4TheLoveOfTech said:
People and Hedge Funds invest in a company based on future potential growth.

The market dropped so heavily yesterday because Major Hedge Funds dropped large percentage of their Apple Shares and others followed in a panic..

Which is what I said. Apple's profits are slowing (or more accurately not growing exponentially in perpetuity like people expect for some reason).

Marketshare has nothing to do with that, because apple holds 75% of the market profit with such a low marketshare.

Future potential growth, ie, profits is what drives apple up or down not these ridiculous articles about a freely available and distributable OS being present in more devices. Shock and awe? Not really.

TWSS37 · May 16, 2013

alexgowers said:
Why do they continue to lump android into one box as a catch all?

Android is not a single operating systems but instead a fractured set of different OS's based on android. They are not interchangeable and rely on a manufacturer to update them not at an OS level.

The android market is so fragmented that it should not even be counted as a smart phone OS, it's even on feature phones that have limited functionality.

I really wish they would divide these data sets into phones not OS, I would class many phones as dead weight and not fully featured.

Windows gaining market share is stupid, they have so little that honestly even a small increase would result in massive percentage increases. They spend more on advertising than anyone and they are still only 3%. It's a poor product and everyone knows it.

Maybe in your head, but that's not how this works in actuality. Android is the OS, stop thinking right there.

BaldiMac · May 16, 2013

4TheLoveOfTech said:
That was my point about the lack of logic breaking out Brands and Versions of Android. It is still an OS. Just as Microsoft still has a large percentage of computers on XP and older OS's. They are still running Windows.

And my point was that there is lots of logic in breaking out brands and versions of Android depending on what you are interested in looking at. To use your example, it can be very interesting at looking a Windows share broken out by version.

And, again, Android isn't "an OS". It is many different OS's built from the same source code. Some of which are not even compatible.

It all depends on why you are interested in looking at the statistics. The IDC table seems to be trying to compare platforms. In that case, I think it is a disservice to include devices that are not Android-compatible in the Android numbers. (I also think including new Android 2.x devices in current market share data isn't right, but that's a much shakier argument.

)

----------

TWSS37 said:
Android is the OS, stop thinking right there.

Seems like you follow your own advice.

In reality, things are much more nuanced.

Android and iOS Continue to Dominate Smartphone Market as Windows Phone Shows Signs of Life

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