Apple Grabs 17% of Worldwide Smartphone Sales in Third Quarter

[LagunaSol]

However, plain interior =/= low quality interior.

And I'm sorry to hear about your mother-in-law's 2004 Camry, but does that mean all of Toyota's products are? I'm sure there are people who've received defective Apple products, and complained about how Apple's QA "isn't up to the quality of years past" (or what about the issue years ago with the iPod batteries, or the first generation iPhone screen problems).

The interior isn't "plain," the interior is of low quality materials.

It isn't defective, it's cheap. It's the same as every other Camry of her model year. It's a cheap product. The plastics are cheap, the doors feel flimsy, the fit and finish are just not up to Toyota (of yesteryear) standards. I've always been a fan of Toyota (though I'm a Honda buyer generally), but there is no doubt that they've cheapened their product over recent years.

Sure, Apple has defective products just like any other company. But you can't put your eyes or your hands on a MacBook Pro, an iMac, a Mac Pro, an iPod, or an iPhone and honestly call it cheap. And there is no comparison, build-wise, between a PowerBook of 10 years ago and a MacBook Pro today. Apple continues to improve the build quality of its products, and invests a lot of development money to do so (i.e. unibody construction process).

How is it not a very good OS? It's stable, far more secure than XP and Vista. Device compatibility hasn't been much of an issue so far. It can run on systems that even Vista had troubles with at times.

My Apple II+ (which still runs) is also stable. Does that make it a very good OS?

Windows has (and always has had) a certain amateurish feel to it that can be hard to explain yet is readily apparent. It's like the bits and pieces were not cut from the same whole but were stitched together from various scraps. Some icons are nicely done, others look like they were cribbed from XP (which they probably were). Some are three-dimensional, others are not. Jaggies continue to abound. Frankly it has a decidedly Linux feel to it, where there was no cohesive design philosophy. And the elements that directly ape OS X are just embarrassing in their obviousness. Seriously, you can't make a recycle bin icon any other way than to recreate the OS X icon and slap a recycle symbol on it? Geez, where is the creativity? It can't be that difficult. Windows Vista/7 tries (poorly) to mimic the colored glass look of OS X (released 8 years ago) at a time when Apple is moving away from it because it's old news. And "Aero" instead of "Aqua?" Sheesh.

These are just cosmetic elements, of course. I have plenty of frustrations with the intuitiveness (or lack thereof) of the Windows OS as well (and I've been a Windows user since 1992).

Sure, there are a number of areas where it's clear that they took the idea from OS X (such as the taskbar redesign and Aero), but if anything people should see that as a good thing for both camps: it means Apple did a tremendous job with their GUI design (so much so, MS wanted to copy it), and at the same time, it improves the computing experience for millions of more people.

Ah, I see. Microsoft copies Apple's work for the benefit of mankind. I get it now. I can see why some argue for Bill Gates' sainthood. Hey, Apple should be flattered, right?

And not "everything" Microsoft produces is "mediocre". Just because you don't like Microsoft or its management doesn't mean you have to discredit everything MS puts out.

I like their mice (sorta) and I like Outlook.

I don't like Steve Jobs at all, but I don't let that sour my viewpoint of Apple.

My viewpoint of Microsoft has been soured by using their crap for 17 years and watching their weasel-ish business practices. And sure, observing their sweat-soaked CEO run around on stage screaming incoherently like a rabid ape doesn't help my opinion of them much either...

 

[LagunaSol]

When you're ready to compromise, call us...

 

[DMann]

When you're ready to compromise, call us...

Wow. That's remarkably similar.

Blatantly so.

 

[Couchie]

My math shows RIM grew more from year-ago quarter than Apple.

Better run your numbers again. While RIM may have gained more overall market share than Apple, Apple experienced a 49% increase in growth while RIM increased 47%.

A few more things:

1. Apple did this with only 2 models on a single carrier in many countries.

2. Number of years these companies have been making smartphones:
Nokia: 13 years
Blackberry: 7 years
Apple: 2 years

3. Apple is now the MOST profitable cellphone - cellphone, not smartphone - maker in the USA.

There is a time to knock Apple and there is a time to give them their accolades when they are due. this instance would be the latter.

 

[cycomiko]

when is it time to congratulate apple for the many years of screwing us to make that extra profit? 17% market share but the biggest profit... awsome


<should brought shares years ago - at least then i could win back the additional profit they make off me buying stuff>

 

[zacman]

What caught my attention is HTC. Look at how many percentage it got. HTC is doing Winmo and Android, and I have a feeling they can surpass Apple.

The US market did save Apple. In other parts of the world HTC already has surpassed Apple, for example the HTC Hero outsold the 3GS on a 3:1 basis in Germany. Also the HD2 is selling really well in Europe though it's only released in some countries yet.

 

[*LTD*]

Business as usual

"This can be yours!"

"Just wait until Win7Mobile comes out!"

Well done. May I add to that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR8SAFRBmcU

Who would YOU buy tech from? The guy who gives a damn, or the guy who is STILL making excuses for the very same problems today?

 

[*LTD*]

When you're ready to compromise, call us...

That looks soooo lowbrow, LOL. Does MS actually view its demographic that way?

 

[nickane]

My heart goes out to the zealots who assume these numbers are particularly positive for Apple and talk about RIM's demise. Maybe once the iPhone is available on more carriers worldwide, they may topple RIM, but ultimately Q3 should be their best quarter, and RIM pulled away 0.7%. Everywhere I look, more and more people are turning to Apple, not just for their mp3 players, but for phones and laptops. Nonetheless, acting like these figures are indicative of some sort of marketshare avalanche is ridiculous. The top 3 pulled ahead in roughly equal measure, but none more so than RIM. Companies seldom issue iphones cos they're rubbish for emails and that's the main reason they've been handing out blackberries for all this time. Ballmer was partly right inasmuch as the iPhone is as much of a niche product as the iMac, as its a consumer product, impeccably well-executed, with a professional/semi-professional pricetag. The iPhone may be smart, but its by no means professional. Were it not for the slickness of its browser, having the most desirable mp3 player built in and the diversity of its app store allowing it to double as a next-gen console, the iPhone would barely qualify as a smartphone at all, since its PIM and messaging functions are limited by the multitouch keyboard. The growth of the smartphone market is obviously down to apple finding consumer applications for the smartphone that make them desirable to people who's companies aren't buying them for them, but to pretend that that growth is outstripping that of the key players within the corporate sector is completely delusional.

How such uninspiring stats have sparked off huge debates about windows vs apple with all the usual inane car analogies brought along for the ride completely eludes me.

 

[kdarling]

The US market did save Apple. In other parts of the world HTC already has surpassed Apple, for example the HTC Hero outsold the 3GS on a 3:1 basis in Germany. Also the HD2 is selling really well in Europe though it's only released in some countries yet.

The HD2 is hot. Would love to see it in the USA. HTC is a factor that Apple could not have foreseen back when they tied their own hands with exclusive deals.

Every million that HTC or RIM or others sell to Verizon customers, is another million sales that Apple won't get right away with a Verizon iPhone.

Jobs made that excuse about the FCC in order to let people see the iPhone six months before launch, so that customers had warning not to renew their contracts with a subsidized phone before iPhone sales started.

In order to get the same initial sales response on Verizon, there would have to be a similar preparation time. I foresee publicity leaks early next year.

 

[LagunaSol]

The HD2 is hot. Would love to see it in the USA.

"Hot???" You seem to be one of the last humans on the planet remotely interested in that crusty OS called Windows Mobile.

And while MS fanboy faux enthusiasm in online forums may be "hot" for WinMo, sales of the HD2 will probably not raise the mercury much.

 

[LagunaSol]

That looks soooo lowbrow, LOL. Does MS actually view its demographic that way?

I suspect MS views its demographic in much less flattering terms. At least the characters in the commercial are people.

The boy (that is a boy, right? Hard to tell with the Farrah Fawcett-style do...) looks more than a little embarrassed by the whole thing.

"I can't believe we're humiliating ourselves like this on national TV for a crappy Windows laptop..."

You'll get used to it, kid. Feeling exploited by Microsoft is just part of the human experience. Wait until you get an office job and have to work with SharePoint all day.

 

[kdarling]

"Hot???" You seem to be one of the last humans on the planet remotely interested in that crusty OS called Windows Mobile.

Silly wabbit. The HD2 can also come with Android.

Rumors from sites like Gizmodo say that Verizon could get an Android HD2 by Christmas.

 

[aegisdesign]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but Arstechnica has a diagram showing market share for several quarters ... here: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/11/apple-grabs-17-of-smartphone-market-in-latest-quarter.ars

The only reason RIM gained year on year over Apple is because the iPhone had a huge surge of pent-up demand in Q3 2008 over Q2 2008. The Arstechnica graph clearly shows the gap narrowing.

The problem with the graph is that they're using Gartner's figures which show 4.7m iPhones shipped. That is complete bollocks.

Apple shipped 6.9m iPhones in Q3 2008

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/10/21results.html

Funnily enough it's the same figure Canalys used in their estimates which I linked to earlier so I think at this point, believing Gartner would be questionable.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Wow. That's remarkably similar.

Just use it yourself and find out...

Too bad they didn't rip off the multiple desktop idea huh.

 

[samab]

The problem with the graph is that they're using Gartner's figures which show 4.7m iPhones shipped. That is complete bollocks.

Apple shipped 6.9m iPhones in Q3 2008

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/10/21results.html

Funnily enough it's the same figure Canalys used in their estimates which I linked to earlier so I think at this point, believing Gartner would be questionable.

Gartner took out 2 million iphones because those are channel inventory --- so it's left with 4.7 million iphones sell through.

Gartner also took out 250K iphones in the last quarter because channel investory got increased by that amount (Apple announced 7.367 million iphones shipped and Gartner used 7.04 million iphones sell through).

 

[DMann]

Well done. May I add to that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR8SAFRBmcU

Who would YOU buy tech from? The guy who gives a damn, or the guy who is STILL making excuses for the very same problems today?

These side by side interviews illuminate, in depth, the extreme contrast of the mindsets between the two. Listening to Ballmer speak is surreal:

"...where it would have been....had we not danced with IBM for so long ....split energy, split work, split IQ...really cost our end customer real innovation (a true prophet)

.... just you watch Windows 95, Windows erh, ...and people will recognize, clear leadership...."

Sarah Palin seems to be more coherent and in touch with reality than this bonafide buffoon - quite revealing, overall.

 

[samab]

These side by side interviews illuminate, in depth, the extreme contrast of the mindsets between the two. Listening to Ballmer speak is surreal:

"...where it would have been....had we not danced with IBM for so long ....split energy, split work, split IQ...really cost our end customer real innovation (a true prophet)

.... just you watch Windows 95, Windows erh, ...and people will recognize, clear leadership...."

Sarah Palin seems to be more coherent and in touch with reality than this bonafide buffoon - quite revealing, overall.

But it was true though --- Microsoft spent a lot of money and energy on OS/2 with IBM. Microsoft may not be much of an innovator, but it was held back by the even more slow moving IBM.

And Windows 95 became the most successful OS launch at the time --- being an apple fanboi doesn't mean that you should detach yourself from reality.

 

[DMann]

But it was true though --- Microsoft spent a lot of money and energy on OS/2 with IBM. Microsoft may not be much of an innovator, but it was held back by the even more slow moving IBM.

And Windows 95 became the most successful OS launch at the time --- being an apple fanboi doesn't mean that you should detach yourself from reality.

Since MS was essentially developing both Windows and OS/2 simultaneously, all the while using gimmicks, ripping off code, and feigning allegiance to OS/2,

MS killed OS/2, and spent a lot of money and energy killing it through:

1) Royalty reductions. which had the overall effect of IBM reducing, eliminating or dropping OS/2 in the market.

2) MS demanding that IBM eliminate, drop, reduce and stop shipping OS/2.

3) MS deployment of financial incentives ($48 Million) that "would have the effect of killing OS/2 in the market".

MS ensured that Windows was always more attractive (easier to acquire, easier to use, and cheaper) than OS/2.

After the death of OS/2, Windows became the only game in town. Aside from OS/2 being superior to Windows,

PC manufacturers who wanted to license OS/2 were directly threatened by Microsoft. Compaq was one of these,

and IBM was informed of Microsoft's intimidation tactics - Microsoft was hardly the victim here. Held back by IBM?

Simply not the case.


Besides, MS would have been royally f*****, regardless of how long they stayed with IBM, had they not eventually hired Dave Cutler's

entire VMS team from DEC, who, with the help of his coders, convinced Microsoft to abandon the DOS/Windows mess and start over again,

since everything from the ground up was wrong - thus creating VMS+1, aka WNT. IBM was hardly a factor, nor a hindrance, in all of this,

other than getting royally screwed. Reality actually does exist outside of Ballmer's fantasy lenses, after all.

 

[aegisdesign]

Gartner took out 2 million iphones because those are channel inventory --- so it's left with 4.7 million iphones sell through.

Gartner also took out 250K iphones in the last quarter because channel investory got increased by that amount (Apple announced 7.367 million iphones shipped and Gartner used 7.04 million iphones sell through).

That would explain it although it does go to show that these analyst derived figures are open to wide interpretation as Gartner, IDC and Canalys all come up with different figures.

If we went by 'shipped units' the iPhone has had a largely flat year from Q3 08 to this - 6.9m last year in Q3, 7.36m this year. Hardly dramatic. Meanwhile everyone is claiming the sky is falling in on Noka when they actually shipped almost a million more smartphones in Q3 than the previous year - 16.41m units from 15.48m - ie. in unit terms they grew more than Apple. They only lost market share because RIM and Fujitsu had a stellar quarter, not Apple.

Apple on the other hand charges more for it's phones than the other guys so made a stonking fortune off it's modest market share. Good for them - bad for us.

 

[samab]

That would explain it although it does go to show that these analyst derived figures are open to wide interpretation as Gartner, IDC and Canalys all come up with different figures.

It's more to do with readers reading the fine print of these analysts models and understand their limitations.

Mac shipments are always hyped up with the "retail" fine print --- but vast majority of PC's are bought by corporations (and that's excluded from the "retail" model).

ChangeWave surveys showing iphone popularity have the fine print saying that they are only surveying ChangeWave members (uber-geeks), not representative of the normal population.

Gene Munster's analyst reports have a million fine prints saying his iphone numbers depend on a million things to happen and those items haven't even rumored to be closed to be true (like mini iphone nano). I may as well say that in 5 years I am going to marry a supermodel --- but these things have to happen first: (1) quit my day job and move back to my parents' basement, (2) start a internet start-up, (3) get venture capital financing for my internet start-up, (4) IPO my internet start-up and become a paper billionaire and finally (5) marry a supermodel.

 

[Vulpinemac]

Better get some new "inside" contacts. Were in the midst of deploying 5000 copies of Windows 7, App V, and VDI.

And yet, one of the largest corporations in the world is abandoning MS Office and is opening the choice of desktop hardware and OS to the individual user rather than relying on Microsoft for everything. After all, with nearly every application browser based, it doesn't matter any more what OS you're running. This also means that where full-featured Windows was needed for compatibility, any OS, even OS X and Linux, as long as they can attach to the network, can be used for any function, whether it be telephone support, systems administration or simple word processing.

This isn't to say Windows will be totally eliminated, but rather, that Windows will simply be 'just another OS' in the corporate environment.