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I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,098
23,744
Gotta be in it to win it
BlackBerry fans 3-4 years ago kept saying the same thing.

But in the end, it's not only about the company making money, market share IS important. Phone sales are all about the eco-system. BB10 is an amazing mobile OS. But not enough phones sold (market share) to attract developers. That is where market share is important. If your share goes below a certain percentage, it stops making sense to write and support apps for that platform. And from there it's a death spiral.

Apple fans are their own worst enemies. Android has software features that are miles ahead of iOS. Maps, the voice assistant, Google Now. Yet there is a lot of bitching here about how the look of the iPhone has not changed. About how we need a 4K display. really? 5" display, you really think you'll notice the difference?
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Yes, it could. App developers write for Android and iOS because those 2 combine for nearly 98% of the market. Both being a fairly significant number. At what point does a developer decide that writing an app for a platform that has only x% of the market is no longer worth it? 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%?
I agree with you, it happened to BB and it could happen to any company.

But let's be real now and take stock, It's not happening to Apple.

@Michael Scrip above me, addressed the points I would have addressed.
 
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AsherN

macrumors 6502a
May 11, 2016
588
2,742
Canada
The numbers were not there originally, but neither was the competition. The iPhone got into this app market first, and stayed because of that advantage, and that even as Android grew, they were always second with significant share. you write an Android app, you talk to 85%. port it to iOS, raise that to 98%. Nobody else matters. And while there is a healthy installed base, when it drops to 5% share, is the effort worth it for app developers? If I can write once and grab 95% of the market, is it worth it to write and support for number 2?
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I agree with you, it happened to BB and it could happen to any company.

But let's be real now and take stock, It's not happening to Apple.

@Michael Scrip above me, addressed the points I would have addressed.

It's not going to happen at the same speed. The sheer number of devices already in the field will see to that. But when you start trying to rationalize declining share, you are ignoring the truth. Clearly tour product does not have the same appeal. Pricing has to do with it. So do features.
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,098
23,744
Gotta be in it to win it
The numbers were not there originally, but neither was the competition. The iPhone got into this app market first, and stayed because of that advantage, and that even as Android grew, they were always second with significant share. you write an Android app, you talk to 85%. port it to iOS, raise that to 98%. Nobody else matters. And while there is a healthy installed base, when it drops to 5% share, is the effort worth it for app developers? If I can write once and grab 95% of the market, is it worth it to write and support for number 2?
[doublepost=1464027971][/doublepost]

It's not going to happen at the same speed. The sheer number of devices already in the field will see to that. But when you start trying to rationalize declining share, you are ignoring the truth. Clearly tour product does not have the same appeal. Pricing has to do with it. So do features.
I'm not rationalizing declining share, I'm saying its a red herring; quite the difference.
 

domino67

macrumors member
Nov 29, 2015
49
32
So you think Apple could go the way of blackberry? That's the subtext right? What's stopping any company from making some grave errors? But if the most valuable company in the world went to the least valuable company in the world that would be good fodder for a Ph.D. Thesis.

I am sure Standard Oil, A&P,Kodak, GM, Lehman Brothers, Enron would also be considered too big to fail?

Apple may today be have the highest market cap but it is not the highest every seen. MSFT in 1999 was valued at $616 billion....in 2015 dollars that would be $843 billion. PetroChina was valued briefly at 1 trillion when it went public
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,098
23,744
Gotta be in it to win it
I am sure Standard Oil, A&P,Kodak, GM, Lehman Brothers, Enron would also be considered too big to fail?

Apple may today be have the highest market cap but it is not the highest every seen. MSFT in 1999 was valued at $616 billion....in 2015 dollars that would be $843 billion. PetroChina was valued briefly at 1 trillion when it went public
Sure I agree anything in the world can happen. And in that vein Google can go out of business as well as Samsung, as well as HTC, as well as Xiaomi, etc. None of us has a crystal ball and it's easy to write words in the internet.

So let's stop saying ONLY apple can go the way of blackberry, because no company is immune.

And nobody really cares MSFT had a market cap of X 15 years ago (except possible a few people) And if you look at the list, the reasons those companies are not the same as today, is quite different than where apple is. Bad products, bad inventory mgmt, bad portfolio strategy, bad long term business strategy etc. I'm surprised you didn't cite Enron in the list.:rolleyes:

Saw this in another post: to paraphrase mark twain; "the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."
 
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AsherN

macrumors 6502a
May 11, 2016
588
2,742
Canada
Apple and Apple fans focus on aesthetics. See how many people here complain on the lack of change on looks. I just came from Android. The integration of the Android/Google eco-system is light years ahead of what Apple offers. Part of that, Apple just can't offer. But it's like they are not trying. The Google Now experience makes Spotlight look light an amateur. Now, Google Now had access to my gmail emails. I get that, but the customization is still much better. I see nothing in Spotlight that is customized to me. iOS seems to be standing still. That is where the battle will be won or lost.
 
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