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2016 Internet Trends Report: Global Smartphone User Growth Slowing as Android Outpaces iOS
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Pro-tip: Just like units sold is for greenhorns and can lead to profitless prosperity, ASP is for amateurs.
When growing from a large base, in a competitive market, stable or increasing average profit per unit, and growing total overall profit is for profitable pros.
When growing from a large base, in a competitive market, stable or increasing average profit per unit, and growing total overall profit is for profitable pros.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Eternal consistency:
When some negative-connotation chart or report lists Apple, it's every other possibility that is actually wrong (aka "you're holding it wrong", "you're using it wrong", "your related equipment is probably malfunctioning", etc)
Whether Apple lover or hater, what's it matter if Apple is #1 or #10 in sales or profitability, etc as long as you get what you want from them or from their competitors? Why does it seem like so many of us take such stuff personally... like Apple is our only child, perfect in every way... and don't you dare find anything at all to criticize about my beautiful, perfect baby?
- When some positive-connotation chart or report has Apple #1, all is well.
- When some positive-connotation chart or report has Apple <#1, the chart is wrong, the analyst is wrong, analysts are stupid and/or move the goal posts ("but who has the most profitable..." and "but isolate only a single model...", etc... might as well be "but only compare smart phones with fruit-shaped logos").
When some negative-connotation chart or report lists Apple, it's every other possibility that is actually wrong (aka "you're holding it wrong", "you're using it wrong", "your related equipment is probably malfunctioning", etc)
Whether Apple lover or hater, what's it matter if Apple is #1 or #10 in sales or profitability, etc as long as you get what you want from them or from their competitors? Why does it seem like so many of us take such stuff personally... like Apple is our only child, perfect in every way... and don't you dare find anything at all to criticize about my beautiful, perfect baby?
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Not at all - otherwise the "local numbers" would be totally screwed and 100% iPhone by your beliefs.
So you can be as impolite and arrogant as you want, but the fundamental fact is price is not playing a part "here". You get the same top end Samsung devices for the same offers, so people are buying solely on preference. If you don't like that tune, it's not my problem but it is what it is and no amount of fandom will change it.
It's more a deep pink, a "paradise pink", but if you see blood, then okay...
But you don't realize with each passing quarter the 'high end phone' category deteriorates. You're confusing 'high end phone' with 'highest price phone'.
It's all good. Thing is all of these reports should be taken with a grain of salt. But forum life dictates that a 10 is a 10 is a 10 no matter where the number came from or who made it up. I'm pretty sure both companies consider the ideal ratio to be 1:1 shipped/sold.
The fact that neither has that ratio isn't really the concern per se. Well, at least not the concern of a market share report.There's really nothing out there that says Samsung has 5-10x more channel inventory that Apple. Samsung doesn't report numbers. Not sure where you got that number. Both companies do have it out there. Tim Cook even said it was one of the reasons Apple's quarter looked so un-Apple like: excess channel inventory.
Seriously? The so-called fanboys are a tiny fraction of a fraction of a percent of the the roughly 200 million phones Apple sold last year alone. Most of those were purchased by regular people representing a wide cross-section of society from all walks of life and care little about phone fetishism, what company is ahead, fashion, specs, 16GB, Tim Cook, etc. They have normal lives where phone ownership isn't elevated to and about having bragging rights. That's the domain of high school students.
They're just ordinary people, like teachers, cops, students, plumbers, engineers, mail carriers, sales people, office workers, doctors, professional athletes, consultants, musicians, cooks, pilots, electricians, and on and on, going about their life and want a phone that meets their needs, has loads of excellent features, and seamlessly integrates well with their other Apple products and services. They open their wallet and purchase iPhone because it works great for them.
The number of android/apple "fanboys" simply do not matter and are insignificant in the big picture.
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You will call me an Apple fan boy ;-) But it is no wonder that Android has a bigger market share. People are buying these nice looking (advanced in specs) devices- which are even cheaper than IOS, and see after some months of use that these devices slow down and become unreliable and they buy the next Android device, feeling this new device is great in the beginning, until it slows down again and the procedure repeats itself again and again... What they don't see is that if they had bought the (slightly more expansive) iPhone they would have kept it at least for two years - without problems- and would not be forced to replace it so often... The old saying: You get what you pay for is right-again. I once knew a guy who bought a Honda Civic and put thousands of dollars in it saying it drives like a Porsche.. in the end for that amount of money he could have bought a Porsche, but had still this thing that will never transform in such a sports car - no matter how much you invest. Im just too poor to buy cheap!
Sure they can. Especially since you wrote "more profit or more marketshare".
A decrease in sale price can spur more sales thus increasing marketshare. The key is to balance the decrease percentage with the increased sales so you gain more profit. That also helps with the short term/long term goal.
Now, you may decrease the profit margin, but that's not what's being discussed.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
??? What iPhone is that?
??? What iPhone is that?
I bet I like Apple as much as you... probably have at least as much Apple stuff as you... but sheesh, that's spreading the butter on that bread a little thick IMO.
What an original and informed comment. Very helpful.
Let's see...
Android has over 5 hardware manufacturer's
Apple is all by itself.
Android market share will always be higher because their phones range from the very expensive to the very cheap.
I would say if market share is really important then a couple of things should happen (from my perspective)
1-Make iOS interesting, fully customizable. Don't introduce minor updates here and there. IOS 10 or iOSX should make a big splash with all sorts of desktop like features such as, file folders, custom desktop screens. Also the ability to hide icons, allow for night mode etc. I'm pretty sure everyone here has great ideas.
2-Make the iPhone accessible from a price perspective.
3-The hardware design needs a refresh. I know Apple can come up with something new and interesting/functional.
Android has over 5 hardware manufacturer's
Apple is all by itself.
Android market share will always be higher because their phones range from the very expensive to the very cheap.
I would say if market share is really important then a couple of things should happen (from my perspective)
1-Make iOS interesting, fully customizable. Don't introduce minor updates here and there. IOS 10 or iOSX should make a big splash with all sorts of desktop like features such as, file folders, custom desktop screens. Also the ability to hide icons, allow for night mode etc. I'm pretty sure everyone here has great ideas.
2-Make the iPhone accessible from a price perspective.
3-The hardware design needs a refresh. I know Apple can come up with something new and interesting/functional.
In the same vein, what good does market share do to the user? How am I disadvantaged by Android's 80% market share when, for its smaller market share, new apps and accessories still get released for iOS first?
You may not care about how profitable Apple is as a company, but that doesn't make profitability any less relevant a metric when discussing how successful Apple is.
If there was a direct correlation between profits and innovation, Apple should be leaps and bounds ahead of everyone - just like they are in profits.
Which figures?
Android sales numbers that they take out of their bottoms?
This has always been stupid, and it's even more stupid now.
Where are Samsung official sales numbers? They don't give! LG! Lenovo! Huawei! They don't give those figures because they are much lower than those "reports"
Also, they are "predicting" a 11% depression for Apple in 2016? What they have? A magic ball?
This is BS. Say what you want for Apple, but Android is even worse, with only one company of them Apple making a tiny profit, what's the point of all that?
In the PC/Mac wars, Windows won and developers joined the Windows side.
In the iOS/Android wars, Android is "winning", but developers are joining Apple's side, and Apple's ecosystem is richer, with, e.g., better home automation, car support, mobile payments, etc. so who's winning?
IDC also predicted in 2011 that Windows Phone would surpass iOS in 2015...
Bs!
Android is winning because they are innovaing and are willing to make sensible profits. We need a law against this.
Why? Because you think that's a metric that won't hurt your feelings? They are predicting 11% YoY loss in shipments AND a drop in average selling price, combined with an overall market that's slowing down. What do you think that's going to do to Apple's bottom line?
Fair. Like me and one of the other posters were discussing, you look at the iPhone and then you look at some of the similarly or better specced Android phones going for hundreds of dollars less, then you begin to wonder "Am I getting the proper value for this $750 phone?"
What's the relevance of profitability in a discussion about market share? It might serve as decent tool for hijacking a thread, but other than that...
Android sells more because it's far more available than iOS. Apple maybe expensive but I do not see it as the reason Apple is starting to lose in sales because a lot of people are still buying them. I do not see android more innovative than iOS as for they do everything the same but it n different fashion. Only reason why it seems more innovative is because the OEM's add their "innovative" features to android and that android is more customizable and tweak friendly than iOS.
I do not find iPhone to be overpriced. I say this because I have had my $700 iPhone longer than my 4 $500 android phones that only lasted one year. I did recently try the GS6 and loved it but I still ended up having issues and went back to the iPhone. Don't get me wrong I have had glitches with iPhones but I find it to not be a big problem as in the androids I have had
I do not find iPhone to be overpriced. I say this because I have had my $700 iPhone longer than my 4 $500 android phones that only lasted one year. I did recently try the GS6 and loved it but I still ended up having issues and went back to the iPhone. Don't get me wrong I have had glitches with iPhones but I find it to not be a big problem as in the androids I have had
What's interesting is that I got a cheap Chromebook from Lenovo and I was shocked how fast it booted up. It did exactly what it was supposed to do...allow me access to the web and do the work quick without the distraction.
Google has done a brilliant job with the chromebook market. Apple and MS are really crapping in their pants about it being outsold on this.
iOS is a nice platform and you're right, it is being priced out for such a stripped down OS. My iPhone 6 Plus gets the job done at 16GB. I do plan on getting an iPad upgrade or surface pro for my work in the creative industry and having more memory expansion/storage is key.
So again, I'm not surprised at the Android market share pacing ahead. It's all about the pricing and accessibility, not the premium snob factor a la Starbucks which is ridiculous.