Android Jumps Past iOS in Overall U.S. Smartphone Usage

[MonkeySee....]

I assume your new to Apple. Just in case your not sure who we are talking about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_jobs even has a pic of him

Though you are trying to be sarcastic, its actually a fact.

Apple did not get to where they are now had it not been for Jobs in control.

Thats very true. The man is genius.

Being the owner of the company he will most definitely have the final say in all things Apple but to say everything apple is his ideas is just silly.

You know who Jonathan Ive is right. Here is a pic incase you don't know who i'm talking about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Ive

 

[Rafterman]

Actually, I think Apple's share is pretty impressive, considering that Apple is one company, making one phone, while Android runs on hundreds of phones and devices from many companies. Apple will never overtake Android if that situation holds, and that's OK.

 

[b0blndsy]

Stats are pretty unbelievable to me, I know Android based phone are becoming popular but not to this extent.

Also it'd be interesting if anyone can share %age increases or decrease in Apple iPhone sales. This is the only thing that can bother Apple.

 

[MH01]

Thats very true. The man is genius.

Being the owner of the company he will most definitely have the final say in all things Apple but to say everything apple is his ideas is just silly.

You know who Jonathan Ive is right. Here is a pic incase you don't know who i'm talking about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Ive

I know who he is. And no matter what our Mate Jonathan comes up with, Jobs has the final say - nothing goes out the door without this approval. Lets look back when Jobs was last away on extended medical leave, and we got the previous generation shuffle.... yeah nice and sexy, but damn unusable. Jobs comes back and we get the current Shuffle.

Yes there are other people that work hard at apple, but lets not fool ourselves in thinking that Jobs does not have total control in the products that go out. And once that control is gone, the products will slip.

Thats very true. The man is genius.

Being the owner of the company he will most definitely have the final say in all things Apple but to say everything apple is his ideas is just silly.

You know who Jonathan Ive is right. Here is a pic incase you don't know who i'm talking about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Ive

At least read the wiki link I sent you. Jobs is not the owner of Apple

 

[MonkeySee....]

I know who he is. And no matter what our Mate Jonathan comes up with, Jobs has the final say - nothing goes out the door without this approval. Lets look back when Jobs was last away on extended medical leave, and we got the previous generation shuffle.... yeah nice and sexy, but damn unusable. Jobs comes back and we get the current Shuffle.

Yes there are other people that work hard at apple, but lets not fool ourselves in thinking that Jobs does not have total control in the products that go out. And once that control is gone, the products will slip.

I dunno. Apple have come along way and i guess i have more faith in them then others. But i guess we will see.

 

[OllyW]

Being the owner of the company he will most definitely have the final say in all things Apple but to say everything apple is his ideas is just silly.

Jobs doesn't own Apple, he's the CEO.

 

[MonkeySee....]

At least read the wiki link I sent you. Jobs is not the owner of Apple

Jobs doesn't own Apple, he's the CEO.

Geez you can't put a foot wrong on here

I know he's the CEO. lazy typing on my point. I'll be sure to have my lawyers proof my post from now on

 

[GLS]

Somehow, I don't think Apple is losing any sleep over this.

They survived having Windows and Microsoft become the de facto standard computer configuration worldwide; I'm pretty certain they will survive "Android" becoming the worldwide leader in smartphone sales, usage, whatnot.

Apple is all about the benjamins. And by that metric, no manufacturer of an Android phone is going to come close...

 

[Themaeds]

As much as I want to see Apple sell phones, I also like to see healthy competition to keep away anti-trust issues. Apple is for people who like quality high-end stuff and Android is for Kmart shoppers

YAWN, more elitist bull from another one of the iHerd

 

[porky]

The white iPhone 4 will change everything.

 

[AaronEdwards]

AFAIK an iPhone 4 is priced similarly as any other high end android phone with contract in Verizon or AT&T. I guess those massive profits are based on how popular the handsets are (they are really a mass product at this point) and not because Apple is overcharging with respect to competitors in the same segment.

I'd say that the massive profits are more due to Apple controlling almost the entire chain. They make the phone, they make the software, they control what is sold and used on the phone. And also very important, the Apple Retail Store. Sure, Apple products are sold elsewhere too, but I have to agree with the point that that is about making your product visible.

They don't make the hardware though, and I doubt that they ever will.

 

[kdarling]

I'm sure when you count all the HTC phones together that just have different names and slightly different design but the same specs all over the world then that HTC "phone design" will easily outsell the iPhone 4.

I don't know if they outsell it, but lumping together all the carrier versions of the Samsung Galaxy (as Apple seems to have done in their lawsuit) or all the carrier versions of a particular HTC design, seems quite reasonable if someone wanted to compare sales of a model type.

Steve is the creative force of Apple, and once he leaves, Apple will be left with a culture of arrogance, insularity, self-important BUT MINUS THE JOBS GENIUS.

Personally, I want to know the name of the UI engineer that showed Jobs something cool enough to make him go ahead and have Apple build touch phones and tablets. That engineer is the unsung hero, the real genius.

 

[AaronEdwards]

Who cares. I was at a cell phone store yesterday and saw all the shoddy looking android designs. They all look like Frankenstein phones if u ask me. If the sheeple wanna get sold on shoddy Android phones, by shoddy used-car-salesmen-types, then that's kind of not surprising. If I wanted to be just like every other drone out there I'd also be using a Winbloez PeeCee.. lolz Sheeple will always be Sheeple. nuff said

If Sheeple will always be Sheeple wouldn't that mean that Windows Phone would be selling like crazy?
Apple has with the iPod, iPhone, and the iPad expanded way beyond the Sheeple who will only buy Apple products. If only the Apple Sheeple had bought them, they wouldn't have sold in these numbers. The Sheeple is the base, beyond them are customers who don't really care about the brand. They may buy the iPhone 5 or they may buy an Adroid phone from HTC, Motorola or another Android phone maker.

 

[840quadra]

I'd say that the massive profits are more due to Apple controlling almost the entire chain. They make the phone, they make the software, they control what is sold and used on the phone. And also very important, the Apple Retail Store. Sure, Apple products are sold elsewhere too, but I have to agree with the point that that is about making your product visible.

They don't make the hardware though, and I doubt that they ever will.

That is a great point.

The biggest problem that can come to Apple being very low on the marketshare front, will be the loss of their current control over component prices.

Right now they are one of, if not the biggest customers of flash memory, and many other components that go into both the iPhone, and it's Android competition. They use their current buying power to help control downstream component manufacturer prices, however, this buying power can, be effected by Apple having a lower stronghold in the Smartphone / Tablet market.

Regardless, it is going to take a lot of purchasing from a single Android phone manufacturer to make it become the #1 phone (read hardware not Software) producing source for Android. Android phone manufacturers compete not only with Apple for marketshare, but all other Android handset / tablet manufacturers around the world.

I have no doubt in the possibility of Apple being a lower producer of hardware than a single Android handset manufacturer, I just think it will be a hard goal to hit, as long as Apple keeps innovating (which they may or may-not do)

I would imagine that Apple is somewhat buffered from this issue, as their high price markup (granted it is only speculated), can absorb a bit of a price increase on hardware components needed to build their products, and still earn a respectable profit.

 

[AaronEdwards]

WRONG

The iPhone gave Apple $12 Billion in revenue this past quarter.

iTunes? $1.4 Billion

Apple is, and has always been, a hardware company... unless you mean the iTunes ecosystem is the reason someone buys an iPhone.

And while we're at it... since Google sells software and services... how much money did Google make from Android? And... are people buying Android phones just so they have access to the Android Market?

Doubt it...



OK... Android has the lead... now what?

I'd argue that from Apple's actions that they clearly disagree with you. Their total control over the system tells me that they do understand that the future is all about apps, services, but also ads.

 

[rmul86]

Why is this such a big deal?

I don't understand why it's headline news everytime we hear that Android OS has the majority...They should have the majority, they have a numerous amount of cell phone producers that use their system and cell phone carriers. It's actually amazing how well apple competes with their OS considering they only have one phone and two carriers! WHO CARES?

 

[SiPat]

But continued strong growth from Android...

really means giving them away for free, as is happening in the UK.

 

[MorphingDragon]

The Android phones in America must really be something special because the best you can get here "officially" are anything but special. With no current HTC or Motorola phones on the market we get left with the default Gingerbread interface or Samsung's abortion. Yum Yum.

 

[AaronEdwards]

Thats very true. The man is genius.

Being the owner of the company he will most definitely have the final say in all things Apple but to say everything apple is his ideas is just silly.

You know who Jonathan Ive is right. Here is a pic incase you don't know who i'm talking about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Ive

Jonathan Ive, isn't he the guy who decided to copy the entire portfolio of Dieter Rams? What happens when he runs out of ideas to copy?

One thing is certain, Jonathan Ive is no Steve Jobs.

 

[840quadra]

I don't understand why it's headline news everytime we hear that Android OS has the majority...They should have the majority, they have a numerous amount of cell phone producers that use their system and cell phone carriers. It's actually amazing how well apple competes with their OS considering they only have one phone and two carriers! WHO CARES?

We all care .

That being said, I am with you on many of your comments. I also, personally, don't want the iPhone to be #1 in the smartphone marketplace. Being #1 gets too much attention, mostly bad, and isn't really all that important for a company depending on how their business is built.

Sell the most units, or be the most profitable? I think most of us all know which goal Apple is after.

 

[MonkeySee....]

Jonathan Ive, isn't he the guy who decided to copy the entire portfolio of Dieter Rams? What happens when he runs out of ideas to copy?

One thing is certain, Jonathan Ive is no Steve Jobs.

Copied?

I'd say influenced.

This thread is getting stupid.

 

[AaronEdwards]

Copied?

I'd say influenced.

This thread is getting stupid.

Apple should be happy that Dieter Rams isn't as willing to sue as they are. I guess he's just happy that his designs are being used.

 

[G58]

Apple buissiness model is to only play in the high end high margins areas.
Apple does not sell anything in the low end area that have small margins.
On the other smart phones makers strip out the anything that is a loss leader or break even and you will start seeing high margins.

It is just Apple way of doing bussiness is only do thing that have high margins and do not go for the low end stuff.
Right now in cell phones you have 2 markets. High end and low end stuff. The middle ground has completely for the most part been killed off. If you look at what people buy they are either buying the sub $50 cell phone or the $200 and not toughing the others.

That's not even remotely true. The main reason why Windows PC OEMs have to sell for so little is because the quality of their products is generally a lot lower, and the spec of a lot of the PCs you're talking about are up to 3 years out of date. Therefore the real value and the perceived market value is so much lower.

The reality is that Apple do sell products of the same specification as many Windows PC OEMs, and often do so at competitive prices, even beating Dell etc on the pricing of high end models. But they manage to command a higher price for their products as a whole because they refresh ranges more frequently with the latest spec, and don't maintain legacy spec models.

That's definitely not the same thing as "only play[ing] in the high end high margins areas." or "not sell[ing] anything in the low end area that have small margins." What it is is being smart and delivering up-to-date technology at the right price, and treating customers with respect.

You're also wrong about smartphones. Apple do the smart thing by differentiating on the basis of two models and a range of storage sizes in each. In contrast, the competition are still operating the old, failed model [that doesn't deserve to be called a business model], which offers customers a bewildering array of devices with an equally bewildering and frankly insulting variety of specifications, functionality and even operating systems, often causing a deliberate spec poverty just to up-sell. The latter ploy is frankly dishonest.

Once again they are copying the failed Windows PC model and attempting to cull as much market share as they can from the market by offering 'something for everyone' but abandoning both profits and customer focus. That just doesn't work in the long run, but is also damaging in the short term. The main, detrimental effect of this is to cannibalize their own ranges and ensure very short model life, poor OS, device and customer support.

Expecting all these OEMs to learn these lessons and change the habits of a lifetime is very over-optimistic. Before they do that, some may well totally fail as businesses.

 

[AaronEdwards]

I don't understand why it's headline news everytime we hear that Android OS has the majority...They should have the majority, they have a numerous amount of cell phone producers that use their system and cell phone carriers. It's actually amazing how well apple competes with their OS considering they only have one phone and two carriers! WHO CARES?

Considering the number of people here who have posted the exactly same argument as you, I'd argue A LOT!

 

[archipellago]

Those that ignore history are bound to repeat it.

Apple is arrogant.

History shows that arrogant companies - that don't listen to their customers - are bound to fail eventually.

I've used Android and Windows Mobile 7 phones. I am an Apple fanboy for a few decades already, but Apple fans need to realise that, if a person who was not a fanboy used a Droid or Win7 phone, it would completely meet their needs.

Sure, arguably, I believe iOS is superior to Android - but history shows that the winner just has to be good enough, not necessarily the best.

This race will be decided over the course of a decade.

Massive companies can degrade into nothing if they don't follow the direction of the marketplace, e.g. Digital Equipment Corporation.

The same applies for mighty empires e.g. British Empire etc. No empire lasts forever.

A prime example of Apple's arrogance is its refusal to provide matte screens to the substantial minority of people who legitimately need matte screens. See the survey evidence at http://macmatte.wordpress.com You might not need a matte screen, and you might love glossy screens: but plenty of people do, such as many (not all) graphics professionals, photographers, people who suffer from eye-strain from the glare. Not all people, but many.

Microsoft went from dominant dictator to chump arguably in the space of around 5-7 years.

I would say that once Steve Jobs is forced to leave Apple through permanent ill health, Apple is zero. I'll explain why. Steve is the creative force of Apple, and once he leaves, Apple will be left with a culture of arrogance, insularity, self-important BUT MINUS THE JOBS GENIUS. In other words, Steve has sown the seeds of Apple's swift demise, even while he is there.

You might argue against what I've said, but history backs me up.

nice post..

we can but hope.