Apple Continues to Take More Than Half of Mobile Phone Industry Profits

[*LTD*]

It's funny how Apple fanatics get excited about Apple raking in profits(ie their money).

We don't really mind.

More profit for the company that makes the products we want, means more ability and resources for them to continue doing the same. It means that what we invested over the years in their ecosystem won't go down the drain due to slow or halted development, lack of support, etc. As in, a WebOS/Palm situation.

Plus, Apple is a truly impressive business case study. Obviously the reactions to their moves are often going to be equally impressive. They're a great example of how to run a business.

 

[miniConvert]

It's funny how Apple fanatics get excited about Apple raking in profits(ie their money).

Not really. Such strong profitability demonstrates a secure, viable future, along with continued reinvestment in future products and the ecosystem. Apple doing well is a good thing for Apple customers, so long as the customers don't feel like they're being bent over a barrel on price.

And, from what I can tell, they don't.

 

[Kaibelf]

They did indeed take shots at the competition. But they were also witty and showed intelligence/clever marketing.

I'm pretty sure Steve never came out and did a happy dance while talking about Fandroids....

No, but he DID tell his biographer that he would destroy them with if it took him till his dying breath. One man's passion is another man's sociopathy, I guess. You seriously think he wouldn't be giddy over news like this?

 

[rdowns]

Android is winning

 

[Kaibelf]

We don't really mind.

More profit for the company that makes the products we want, means more ability and resources for them to continue doing the same. It means that what we invested over the years in their ecosystem won't go down the drain due to slow or halted development, lack of support, etc. As in, a WebOS/Palm situation.

Plus, Apple is a truly impressive business case study. Obviously the reactions to their moves are often going to be equally impressive. They're a great example of how to run a business.

Exactly, and the tremendous RESALE VALUE of the phones. What other OEM can say that their 2-year-old phones can be traded in for the same values as iPhones? I personally got $110 for a 3GS, and that thing was well-worn.

 

[saturn88]

iHype

Apple certainly is doing best job milking a consumer.

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Exactly, and the tremendous RESALE VALUE of the phones. What other OEM can say that their 2-year-old phones can be traded in for the same values as iPhones? I personally got $110 for a 3GS, and that thing was well-worn.

I sold my iPhone 3G for $130. later I sold my 1.5 y.o. EVO 4G on eBay for $155.

 

[milo]

This is what's important, not who sold the most handsets!!!

I'd argue that both profits and market share are important, for different reasons. Profit is obvious, handsets sold is important in terms of developer software support among other things. Not that I'm complaining about Apple's market share, just saying it's not something to be completely ignored.

 

[cameronjpu]

It's funny how Apple fanatics get excited about Apple raking in profits(ie their money).

As to how it affects the perceptions though keep in mind that from what we've been hearing Apple gets a larger percentage from the carriers than other mobile phone manufacturers. Kudos to them for being able to do this but it would be interesting to see that if Apple only received the same profits as their competitors where they might stand in a similar comparison.

You mean where would Apple stand if iPhones weren't worth more than other phones? Well, I think that's pretty self-evident. If Apple could only sell an iPhone for $300-500, instead of $500-700, Apple would make a lot less money. Why is that interesting?

 

[firewood]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Great, so stop charging so much!

If they are selling all they can make, there's room to increase prices and make even higher profits.

 

[rdowns]

Apple certainly is doing best job milking a consumer.

How so? Are there top of the line smartphones selling for less than $199? Are the contracts for other smartphones cheaper than for iPhone's. Certainly not where I'm from.

 

[Kaibelf]

How so? Are there top of the line smartphones selling for less than $199? Are the contracts for other smartphones cheaper than for iPhone's. Certainly not where I'm from.

Exactly. Aren't many of the new "flagship" Android handsets coming out at $299 ON contract?

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Yes, if you are talking about investors. But this forum is for consumers. For them, the fact that iPhone loses market and mind share is critical as more and more often the companies start treating Android as the most important ecosystem and iOS as a second fiddle.

Right, but there's a fatal flaw to your logic. How many people out there call their Android handsets an iPhone? Plenty. How many even know the name of their Android version, or even really what Android is? It's almost like Kleenex at this point.

 

[voonyx]

Remember guys, Android has marketshare though, and all the people I saw walking around have Android phones. This is important.

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Yes, if you are talking about investors. But this forum is for consumers. For them, the fact that iPhone loses market and mind share is critical as more and more often the companies start treating Android as the most important ecosystem and iOS as a second fiddle.

Yes second fiddle indeed. Clearly evidenced by when Verizon's website menu structure at one point was "iPhone" and "smartphones"

The companies are running in droves away from Apple.

 

[nagromme]

I’m trying to remember in which way Android is ahead. Is it a greater business success than iOS (iPhone+iPad)? Or is the experience of Android phone and tablet users a lot better than that of iPhone and iPad users? Or is there some third thing that matters in some way?

 

[ad2435]

Apple could put their logo on a turd and people would buy it.

 

[Zunjine]

Marketshare is misleading when you're talking about a product like the Android operating system.

It only matters in terms of an ecosystem if someone is using their phone as a smartphone but recent studies here in the UK suggest that a very large number of Android phone owners aren't doing that. As Android is stuck on more and more phones, many of which are very low end and will never get an upgrade, the number of total handsets running Android will go up - obviously. But they are phones which are ending up being used as feature phones with big screens. The owners aren't buying Apps or using the web or data services much. You only need to look at the money iPhone devs are making and compare it to money earned through the Android market to know that.

What matters here is not the raw market share data. Money being made by devs is a better indicator. As is the web browsing traffic statistics. Also, iOS devs are tapping into an ecosystem which includes iPods and iPads - it's fairly easy to make a universal app and suddenly you're looking at a much wider audience of people who are, broadly speaking, well off and invested in the ecosystem. They are willing and able to buy apps so they're the ones you need. The fact that a million kids are running around with cheap Android phones but have no interest in ever paying for apps for them is hardly a big deal for devs who want to, you know, make money.

 

[reefoid]

Right, but there's a fatal flaw to your logic. How many people out there call their Android handsets an iPhone? Plenty. How many even know the name of their Android version, or even really what Android is? It's almost like Kleenex at this point.

Really? None of the Android users I know use the word iPhone to describe their phone. In fact, neither do most of the iPhone users. They all say "phone".

And not sure on the relevance of knowing which Android version your phone runs. Do you think the vast majority of iPhone users care or know whether they're using iOS4 or 5? For the visitors to this forum, maybe. For the vast majority of users, no.

 

[voonyx]

I’m trying to remember in which way Android is ahead. Is it a greater business success than iOS (iPhone+iPad)? Or is the experience of Android phone and tablet users a lot better than that of iPhone and iPad users? Or is there some third thing that matters in some way?

It's marketshare. Leading in marketshare in a saturated market, makes you ahead.

Profits, dev revenue, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and sales means nothing.

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Apple could put their logo on a turd and people would buy it.

True, unfortunately putting the Google logo on turds doesn't seem to be paying off.

 

[gpat]

I don't get it. Why does everybody on this forum get happy if Apple makes money? Did I get on AppleShareholders.com by mistake?

 

[Laird Knox]

I sold my iPhone 3G for $130. later I sold my 1.5 y.o. EVO 4G on eBay for $155.

You sold your EVO next month on eBay? Sweet!

 

[voonyx]

I don't get it. Why does everybody on this forum get happy if Apple makes money? Did I get on AppleShareholders.com by mistake?

You do know when a company makes money, they have the ability to continue to create products that make their customers happy...right?

 

[saturn88]

How so? Are there top of the line smartphones selling for less than $199? Are the contracts for other smartphones cheaper than for iPhone's. Certainly not where I'm from.

iPhone is selling for the same price as top Android phones, but iPhone is using cheaper components - that's where Apple higher margins come from.

The iPhone 4 (we looking at the last 3 quarters numbers) has smaller and older tech non-AMOLED displayed, no Gorilla glass, twice less RAM, no NFC chip, no SD expansion, smaller battery, no FM radio, older 5mpx camera, no 4G chip, slower older CPU.

So for the same money Apple consumer gets less phone. Cheaper internals in the sleek packaging - that's where Apple higher margins come from - huge markup. Apple consumer gets milked big time.

 

[NakedPaulToast]

We don't really mind.

As much as you think you're speaking on behalf of Apple consumers, you're not. I do mind.

As the owner of an iMac, MacBook, iPad 2, iPhone 4, iPhone 3G, reports of Apples huge profit margins, and billions squirrelled away irritate me. It tells me how much more Apple marks up their products and reminds me how much less I could have paid had their markup been more reasonable.

I just don't understand the Apple consumer bragging point; "I contributed way more to Apples profits with my iPhone, than you did with towards HTC"

 

[saturn88]

You sold your EVO next month on eBay? Sweet!

Not next month. I used EVO for 1.5 years (after I got rid of iPhone 3G)

 

[gpat]

You do know when a company makes money, they have the ability to continue to create products that make their customers happy...right?

And also building a loyal user base that will buy new products no matter how little they change compared with their predecessors. Don't get me wrong, I'm OK with Apple making money, but all the overexcited reactions make me think a lot of the users here takes the success of Apple more personally than they should.

 

[fertilized-egg]

It's funny how Apple fanatics get excited about Apple raking in profits(ie their money).

Ask Palm fans how great it is to see the products available at firesale prices. Yes it helps the cheapskates who just want a cheap functional device with no future but those who bought the devices with the expectation for healthy future with a strong ecosystem such as apps, accessories, OS updates, etc, a non profitable company is infuriating.