Market share vs usage.
That is a very important point. Verifies that iOS users "use" the features of their OS.
Android users tend to be more "size matters." Features are an afterthought.
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iOS Proves Much More Popular Than Android for Black Friday Shopping
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That is a very important point. Verifies that iOS users "use" the features of their OS.
Android users tend to be more "size matters." Features are an afterthought.
Android has replaced the basic flip-phone.
Nowadays... people around the world are buying phones and they happen to be running some version of Android. That means they get counted in Google's activation numbers... even if they are only used for voice and text.
That might explain how Android can have 80% market share... but have very little online engagement.
I also think we're forgetting the huge number of Android phones sold in parts of the world that might not have good 3G access. Again... there's probably not much web browsing, ad impressions, mobile purchases or app downloads happening in those places.
Those people just bought a phone to be a phone... and it just happens to be running Android.
"Android market share" includes ALL phones running Android: from a $50 phone sold in a developing nation... to a $600 flagship phone.
There may be a lot of Android smartphones out in the world... but they're not all being used as smartphones.
I'm not sure usage stats are much better.
Ultimately - if the sale has been made - why would the company care if it's used or not. Oh sure - they care about usage as it relates to making money off their appstore and/or accessories they might sell.
Neither marketshare nor usage (alone) mean "everything" - to get anything meaningful - one needs to look at the big picture which is a combination of many data points. Not just one.
An Asian no-name Android pirated-media-player fed by SD cards with no Internet connection at all is a "tablet" in name only, and a bottom-end Android feature-phone that has little app capability and no data plan (or one the user doesn't even know exists) is a "smartphone" in name only.
Neither one is much use to shop from, and neither is of much interest to web service companies or app developers. But they do seem to create a lot of meaningless "market share" numbers!
Agreed--more data points are better then fewer. It's also key to take each data point for what it truly means. And to decide what you care about measuring: company profit? Quality product? Happy users? Happy developers?
Usage alone is a great metric on some ways: it shows the value people are getting from their device, which is a feedback loop generating return customers and more top-quality apps.
Market share alone is a useless metric, even for one-time "if the sales has been made" numbers: the relevant sales metric there would be profits, which Apple and Samsung alone can claim, and Apple owns the best segment.
Neither one is much use to shop from, and neither is of much interest to web service companies or app developers. But they do seem to create a lot of meaningless "market share" numbers!
Agreed--more data points are better then fewer. It's also key to take each data point for what it truly means. And to decide what you care about measuring: company profit? Quality product? Happy users? Happy developers?
Usage alone is a great metric on some ways: it shows the value people are getting from their device, which is a feedback loop generating return customers and more top-quality apps.
Market share alone is a useless metric, even for one-time "if the sales has been made" numbers: the relevant sales metric there would be profits, which Apple and Samsung alone can claim, and Apple owns the best segment.
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An Asian no-name Android pirated-media-player fed by SD cards with no Internet connection at all is a "tablet" in name only, and a bottom-end Android feature-phone that has little app capability and no data plan (or one the user doesn't even know exists) is a "smartphone" in name only.
Neither one is much use to shop from. But they do seem to create a lot of meaningless "market share" numbers!
I'm not sure this is really relevant. As I wrote earlier - this is about black friday - which is primarily - almost exclusively a US based event. And in the US - the Android/US "split" is just around 50% vs 40%
This: iOS sent 66.62% of mobile site visits on Black Friday, while Android sent just 32.97% of the 9.3 million total visits. Android users are just too afraid to buy anything from their devices, and use the browser less than iOS users.
I bought hundreds of dollars of Black Friday stuff via an Amazon app on an Android tablet (our house iPad just broke).
NONE of that would show up on this retail website report. Nor would any other App based purchases or activity.
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These reports are advertisements for the product that creates the report. What they actually mean, is not always clear.
For example, this same report says that people in Atlanta out-shopped people in Los Angeles and Dallas and Houston, among many other big cities.
Does that mean people in Georgia are richer than people in California or Texas?
No, it just means more people in Atlanta went online to the web sites monitored by this report.
Was anyone surveyed as to their state of emotion?
No. One stat does not prove or disprove an emotional state. But feel free to believe that yourself.
Eh. Who knows. Really, I think the whole viruses on Android thing is vastly over exaggerated.
As far as I'm aware, there are no such thing as drive-by infections on Android. You actually have to take the time out to install an infected program off Google Play to catch anything. That means you don't really need anything like a virus scanner, only the smallest amount of caution and a bit of proactive research to stay malware free. It's not a big deal.
Though granted, it wouldn't hurt if Google took a page from Apple's book and curated their storefront to check for that crap to begin with.
I know these are internet connected devices. But just because a particular method is "tracked" as the "baseline" for usage does not mean the device isn't being used.
You can argue that there are a lot of Android phones that are just being used as dumb phones - but if that's all the users want or need it for - they are using their phone and might have excellent customer satisfaction.
I also (unless I'm mistaken) was under the assumption that many of these tests aren't granular enough to determine if desktop mode is being used or not. I know I'm not the average user - but when prompted for a desktop site on my tablet or phone - I have always chosen that (or have it set in my app) because I (and many I know) prefer those to mobile sites.
Again - my point is - one piece of data (as you've agreed) isn't very telling.
Granted, Asian non-Internet Android tablets wouldn't be relevant in the US (the Android low-end in the US at least is hooked up to home WiFi probably), but "smartphones" that should be called feature phones are rampant in the US.
(Tangent: I have a friend who got one for free, was excited, and pays for a data plan on contract... but the thing is practically useless. It's a name-brand Android device--not Samsung, I forget what--but it's in the ocean of bottom-end devices, not the ones that get TV ads.)
Either way, the usage (sales, in this case) split is different from the "market share" split, even in the US.
Your earlier post that iOS users likely average more disposable income is on the money, too, I'm sure. Apple is selling mid-to-high end, and Android sales have been more on the low-end. Once you get above the "free" price point that starts to really matter.
Using that to jump off - I'd be curious of what % of Android purchases were made by such phones as the S4, HTC One, Moto X (IE the higher end phones) vs not in a breakdown.
Well, when it comes to OSes, i believe usage stats are more important than sales. Now if you were talking about iphones vs moto x's vs S4.. then sure, sales would be more important.
Also on another note, stats like this makes someone like myself question the validity of all the Android vs iOS reports. When reports show Android having a ~13% lead on iOS here in the U.S. yet usage stats show iOS with a significant lead, I wonder what they consider an android "activation", I wonder what exactly is being activated (USB Stick, a smart TV, etc), and i begin to doubt sales figures by some of those Android companies (*cough *cough Samsung *cough).
ok...
So let me get this straight.. you guys are happy that people buy more stuff on iOS devices over Android devices? May I ask why? This constant fanboy flag planting **** is ruining what we all really love. Why must you chose sides?
I currently have an iPad 4 (mine) an iPad 3 (my sons) and an iPad Mini (wife). I also use a Samsung galaxy S4 phone and have a new nexus 7. My wife uses a Nexus 4. I get the best of everything. If an app comes out for iOS that is not on Android, I get it.
I must say that my Nexus 7 is my daily driver at this point. A tablet is extremely useful screen real estate for widgets and the iPad just doesn't have them. Does it mean I hate Apple? Nope. Sure doesn't.
And don't give me this Eco-system **** either. The apps I use everyday are both on my Nexus 7 and my iPad. We use Kindle for books, Evernote, Netflix, Amazon prime for movies and such and you can do it all from both. I have to say that if you buy all of your **** from just Apple.. you're an idiot and you're overpaying.
Furthermore... people who spend money on black Friday are not the kind of folks I want to model my life after. Perhaps morons who are willing to overpay for **** prefer Apple exclusively.
So let me get this straight.. you guys are happy that people buy more stuff on iOS devices over Android devices? May I ask why? This constant fanboy flag planting **** is ruining what we all really love. Why must you chose sides?
I currently have an iPad 4 (mine) an iPad 3 (my sons) and an iPad Mini (wife). I also use a Samsung galaxy S4 phone and have a new nexus 7. My wife uses a Nexus 4. I get the best of everything. If an app comes out for iOS that is not on Android, I get it.
I must say that my Nexus 7 is my daily driver at this point. A tablet is extremely useful screen real estate for widgets and the iPad just doesn't have them. Does it mean I hate Apple? Nope. Sure doesn't.
And don't give me this Eco-system **** either. The apps I use everyday are both on my Nexus 7 and my iPad. We use Kindle for books, Evernote, Netflix, Amazon prime for movies and such and you can do it all from both. I have to say that if you buy all of your **** from just Apple.. you're an idiot and you're overpaying.
Furthermore... people who spend money on black Friday are not the kind of folks I want to model my life after. Perhaps morons who are willing to overpay for **** prefer Apple exclusively.
That is a very important point. Verifies that iOS users "use" the features of their OS.
Android users tend to be more "size matters." Features are an afterthought.
So browsing the internet is now considered "feature(S)"? A feature, yes, not plural. Not sure how you made the leap from the OP to the content in your post. I am amenable to being convinced. What features aren't they using? Even though I used my iPad to make purchases over the holiday weekend it doesn't mean your post is valid in it's assumption.
BTW Android users can be, and often are, iOS users as well. It's not an either/or proposition for most people.
I think you bring up some good points, especially about the 3G coverage in some parts of the world.
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This doesn't prove what you have claimed.
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No way, iPads never break.
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Best post in thread! Kudos to you.
Funny how you say Who cares, yet you are usually one of the first to start attacking anything Pro-Apple on this site.
Ahy do any of you care what kind of debate any two sides have? No one here is attacking anyone or being disrespectful, we are all just voicing our thoughts and opinions on a product we use and enjoy. And btw, everyone takes sides one way or another. We have a favorite sports team, preferred drink, vacation spot... anything. We are either Coke/Pepsi, PS4/Xbox, Honda/Toyota (or Acura/Lexus for some of you ritzier folk), Football/Football (soccer for the Americans here)... it's human nature to choose a side.
No need to come in and stir things up and calling people morons. Nothing wrong with a little fun and friendly debate.
... using for voice and text. Where did you pull that from?
... very little online engagement. Less web traffic than Apple does not equal very little. It just means less.
... just bought a phone to be a phone. So, they told you their motivation?
... not being used as smartphones. Surfing the web is not the only use for smartphones. People use them for other things as well.
Maybe I should mention that I wouldn't order something through a computer over WiFi as well. I don't trust the security of wireless technology, seeing how easy it is for even third rate hackers to break in WEP and WPA. I don't know if cell phone data packets are encrypted or not, but I doubt it's any more secure than WPA.
Call me paranoid, but jumping at shadows has kept my personal info personal.
All my online orders goes through wired Ethernet.
I wouldn't necessarily call it just a phone. Do you order stuff with your laptop? How does your laptop make it more secure to purchase?
"attacking" is debatable. So are levels of caring. Often my care is fleeting. Often what is seen as my "care" is nothing more than disputing FUD or BS. That's different than caring about the actual issue and more about the propagation of crap