Apple Makes Gains in U.S. Smartphone Market Share as Launch of iPhone 6 Approaches

[newagemac]

Why do these type of market data posts inevitably bring out bad car analogies? Sigh

MR should institute fines for even using them. It's a indisputable fact this forum is the worst with car analogies.

I would love to see you break down exactly why the analogy is bad. Sounds more like the truth hurts. Analogies are used for a reason. It helps people to use commonly understood things to bring clarity to things they might not otherwise fully understand.

There is nothing inherently "bad" about any car analogy. Your lack of reasons that the analogy doesn't apply is more proof to your obvious ********ness as to why you have an issue with it.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Again different people saying different things. Not sure what that proves other than different people are saying different things. Unless you'd like to clarify?

I see humor in it, you don't. Nothing to really clarify, I look at it in a different way, that's all.

 

[Keirasplace]

This is what I don't get about MS. The real threat to them is Google, not Apple. Yet, they are marketing and advertising WP7 as an iPhone alternative, instead of an Android alternative.

What would be easier? Getting someone to switch away from their iPhone, or their Samsung Galaxy S#?

It's obviously the latter, because Samsung has very little brand loyalty.

The reason for that is simple, the money to be made is in selling to the high end were Apple lives. That's also were app and media consumption is the highest BTW. Not sure Microsoft wants to battle it out with the no profit crowd of android companies.

 

[Trapezoid]

I see humor in it, you don't. Nothing to really clarify, I look at it in a different way, that's all.

Lol, can't argue with that. I hope you can appreciate I see humor in the fact that you find opinions funny. Those darn opinions! Hilarious.

 

[Lankyman]

Apple will be on top once iPhone 6 is released.

I think it's more a case of the US market supporting a US company. US buyers are definitely all loved up when it comes to iPhone.

Figures in Europe and the rest of the world show much less support for the product.

 

[CEmajr]

Its like the Apple Vs. Microsoft war all over again.
Apple better step up its game. As long as it is lower than 50% it will always be the OS to get knocked off.

I think it's different in the fact that despite its marketshare numbers, Android is still the secondary platform of choice for developers. While Windows obtained the vast majority of support from developers and Mac was secondary. Also if I recall, iOS has never had 50% of the smartphone market and most likely never will unless Apple decides to compete in the low-end junk/no profit market. Apple could release the iPhone 6 with a 5.5" 4K display, 4GB of RAM, 8-core processor, 3 days of battery life, 16 MP camera with optical zoom, and any other ridiculous spec you can think of and it wouldn't move the needle unless the phone was $199 off contract.

The problem with this is that the majority of the huge Android marketshare is made up of low-end junk and feature phone replacements that don't do much for developers. If anything I think it's pretty embarrassing for Android to have such marketshare and iOS still remain the primary development platform for mobile. Until Android can find someway to change that, they'll never be the Microsoft to Macintosh in terms of profit or development, only in terms of fragmentation and disorganization.

 

[69Mustang]

I would love to see you break down exactly why the analogy is bad. Sounds more like the truth hurts. Analogies are used for a reason. It helps people to use commonly understood things to bring clarity to things they might not otherwise fully understand.

There is nothing inherently "bad" about any car analogy. Your lack of reasons that the analogy doesn't apply is more proof to your obvious ********ness as to why you have an issue with it.

Teehee. I was counting on your reply being exactly as it is. Thanks bud.
To begin, I never said car analogies are inherently bad. When appropriate, they're completely acceptable. I said, "It's a indisputable fact this forum is the worst with car analogies." It's undeniable to all but the most obtuse, we are horrible with car analogies. We being MR forum members, of which I am one as well. Also conflating what I said about car analogies and analogies in general is pretty bad form.

Why our analogies are bad:

Cars aren't subsidized like phones. ~$200 bucks and a contract can get just about any phone. Until you can buy an M3 and a Corolla for the same subsidized price, analogy is not analogous.

Cross comparison disconnect. No one compares M3's and Corolla's and these reports don't compare iPhones to budget Androids. These reports present market data. A number is a number is a number. If an iPhone is sold, whether 5S, 5C, 5, or 4S, the number counts the same. Ditto with Android, Windows, Symbian, etc. Should no one else's number count simply because Apple chooses to sell in only one category? That's stupid.

Lack of knowledge of car market. Your quote is a perfect example: "And something like a Toyota Camry or less expensive in their line will always have more market share than Toyota's own Lexuses..." Simply put, that's wrong. Scion, Toyota's least expensive brand get's outsold by Lexus by an absurdly wide margin. When your basic tenets are wrong your analogy falls flat... like a tire. See what I did there.

Finally:
Wrong brand comparisons. iPhones are not like Ferrari's, BMW's, Mercedes. They are like Toyota's, Honda's, and Fords. Commodity vehicles and a commodity phone, just like Samsung, HTC, LG and the others. Ferrari's and their high end brethren are limited to a select few due to price, availability/exclusivity, and a few other factors. Neither the iPhone nor any of the other aforementioned brands fit that description. They are all commodity items that can be purchased pretty much anywhere and available to just about anyone. Even Walmart shoppers.

So please, no more car analogies.

 

[osofast240sx]

I'm surprised Samsung is UP in the US.

They were down, both in marketshare AND sales in worldwide numbers last quarter. I wonder what the worldwide numbers look like this quarter.....

I would assume they do better outside the US than in - though I guess a huge contributor to their decline had to do with losing the top spot in China.

Chinese oem's are killing Samsung

 

[fermat-au]

i wonder what it would look like in Europe

In Europe Apple has a far smaller share, about half that of the EU according to Kantar.

Amazing what $450 subsidies do to a market.

The entire Smart phone market in the US is distorted by the $450 subsidy.
From Kantar
US
Android 62.9 (+11.4)
iOS 30.9 (-11.8)

EU5
Android 75.1 (+4.0)
iOS 14.5 (-1.6)

http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Xiaomi-continues-as-Chinas-number-one-manufacturer

 

[Dontazemebro]

Teehee. I was counting on your reply being exactly as it is. Thanks bud.
To begin, I never said car analogies are inherently bad. When appropriate, they're completely acceptable. I said, "It's a indisputable fact this forum is the worst with car analogies." It's undeniable to all but the most obtuse, we are horrible with car analogies. We being MR forum members, of which I am one as well. Also conflating what I said about car analogies and analogies in general is pretty bad form.

Why our analogies are bad:

Cars aren't subsidized like phones. ~$200 bucks and a contract can get just about any phone. Until you can buy an M3 and a Corolla for the same subsidized price, analogy is not analogous.

Cross comparison disconnect. No one compares M3's and Corolla's and these reports don't compare iPhones to budget Androids. These reports present market data. A number is a number is a number. If an iPhone is sold, whether 5S, 5C, 5, or 4S, the number counts the same. Ditto with Android, Windows, Symbian, etc. Should no one else's number count simply because Apple chooses to sell in only one category? That's stupid.

Lack of knowledge of car market. Your quote is a perfect example: "And something like a Toyota Camry or less expensive in their line will always have more market share than Toyota's own Lexuses..." Simply put, that's wrong. Scion, Toyota's least expensive brand get's outsold by Lexus by an absurdly wide margin. When your basic tenets are wrong your analogy falls flat... like a tire. See what I did there.

Finally:
Wrong brand comparisons. iPhones are not like Ferrari's, BMW's, Mercedes. They are like Toyota's, Honda's, and Fords. Commodity vehicles and a commodity phone, just like Samsung, HTC, LG and the others. Ferrari's and their high end brethren are limited to a select few due to price, availability/exclusivity, and a few other factors. Neither the iPhone nor any of the other aforementioned brands fit that description. They are all commodity items that can be purchased pretty much anywhere and available to just about anyone. Even Walmart shoppers.

So please, no more car analogies.

I laughed, but there is so much truth in this. If there was any phone analogous to a Ferrari or its high end brethren, it would probably be one of the Vertu phones. You know the one's that come with your own concierge.

Oh btw, it runs Android.

 

[Boomish69]

Apple will be on top once iPhone 6 is released.

lol not in the UK..

As an example I had several meetings with lots of people today and I did notice every single person had a Samsung!

 

[kdarling]

Chinese oem's are killing Samsung

They're killing everyone.

Samsung's now number two in China, after being recently passed by Xiaomi.

And Apple has been once again been knocked out of the top five vendors. Moreover, the government has ordered massive cuts in subsidies, which are Apple's lifeblood.

 

[Trapezoid]

They're killing everyone.

Samsung's now number two in China, after being recently passed by Xiaomi.

And Apple has been once again been knocked out of the top five vendors. Moreover, the government has ordered massive cuts in subsidies, which are Apple's lifeblood.

Lol. If there are massive cuts in subsidies, android will be destroyed in China. But you already knew that.

 

[pappy53]

Android's got double the market share of iOS, it's not gonna be "out the door" any time soon

I don't know where you came up with that US market share number, but Apple has been holding around 42% and android about 51%. Apple is steadily gaining every quarter while android is steadily dropping every quarter.

 

[proline]

Hmm. Got a link to any major analyst who says Apple is doomed?

I think it's more like they worry about carriers dropping subsidies and/or Apple having to lower their profit margin.

Not about Apple disappearing.

LOL. You'd think with Google people would be able to do a little research so they don't look like fools.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101509203
Highly paid analyst for a major news outlet saying just that. The honorable thing to do here is eat your words along with some humble pie, rather than trying to explain things away as I'm sure you will.

 

[proline]

Teehee. I was counting on your reply being exactly as it is. Thanks bud.
To begin, I never said car analogies are inherently bad. When appropriate, they're completely acceptable. I said, "It's a indisputable fact this forum is the worst with car analogies." It's undeniable to all but the most obtuse, we are horrible with car analogies. We being MR forum members, of which I am one as well. Also conflating what I said about car analogies and analogies in general is pretty bad form.

You don't know what an analogy is, do you? Maybe go look it up. By definition, an analogy compares two things that are not the same in every respect but notably similar in others. The car industry is a perfect analogy to the future phone industry in one (note- not every) respect- it supports both premium vehicles and budget ones at very different price ranges catering to different groups. This is different from say the bottled soda industry, which has a clear price ceiling that is only very rarely breached and not by anyone who expects to make billions of dollars.

The rest of your analysis shows a lack of insight into just how separate the iPhone market will be in the future. While it is true that today there are high-priced Androids equivalent to the iPhone, this will not be the case in a few years. Chinese competition will result in most Androids being sold nearly at cost, which simply will not inspire the R&D necessary to keep pace with Apple as R&D will need to be cut to keep costs in line. Just look at the PC industry- there is nobody that makes half the profit of the Mac, Intel has slowed down processor advancement to focus on other areas, and everyone pretty much accepts that this year's PC is basically the same as last years. Android will soon be like that. Meanwhile, people still notice the latest Macs and Mac focused events are still front-page news. In 5 years, Android will almost never make the news, just as Windows only appears in "Microsoft earnings disappoint..." type stories. The only Android coverage will be "Google profit still not growing, shareholders demand further attempts to monetize Android..."

 

[kdarling]

Lol. If there are massive cuts in subsidies, android will be destroyed in China. But you already knew that.

No, and I don't think anyone would agree with your prediction.

The overwhelming majority (85%) of smartphones sold in China are Android.

Moreover, most of them made locally and many are sold at prices that don't need subsidies.



So no, it's beyond ridiculous to claim that a lack of subsidies would destroy Android in China.

Quite the contrary. It's high priced phones that are going to get killed. E.g. the iPhone which sells for $100 now with subsidy, will jump to $800, according to Patently Apple.

 

[dec.]

And I thought that market share didn't matter.

Do YOU think it matters?

 

[AppleScruff1]

Do YOU think it matters?

Only if it favors Apple.

 

[dec.]

24 hour battery life is fine and who cares if you have to charge it every night.

Check out how the antenna breaks went from hideous to a nice design in the various iPhone 6 threads. For whatever reasons, the general consensus changed. I'm not accusing anyone of flip flopping, but the consensus always changes.

"The general consensus" - you're hilarious.

----------

Only if it favors Apple.

Low level sarcasm usually doesn't always cut it. I'd really suggest that you take a bit of time to relax and get used to the thought of different forum members having different opinions.

 

[AppleScruff1]

"The general consensus" - you're hilarious.

----------



Low level sarcasm usually doesn't always cut it. I'd really suggest that you take a bit of time to relax and get used to the thought of different forum members having different opinions.

You always seem to be the one who is uptight about it. I comment on what I read here.

 

[69Mustang]

You don't know what an analogy is, do you? Maybe go look it up. By definition, an analogy compares two things that are not the same in every respect but notably similar in others. The car industry is a perfect analogy to the future phone industry in one (note- not every) respect- it supports both premium vehicles and budget ones at very different price ranges catering to different groups. This is different from say the bottled soda industry, which has a clear price ceiling that is only very rarely breached and not by anyone who expects to make billions of dollars.

The rest of your analysis shows a lack of insight into just how separate the iPhone market will be in the future. While it is true that today there are high-priced Androids equivalent to the iPhone, this will not be the case in a few years. Chinese competition will result in most Androids being sold nearly at cost, which simply will not inspire the R&D necessary to keep pace with Apple as R&D will need to be cut to keep costs in line. Just look at the PC industry- there is nobody that makes half the profit of the Mac, Intel has slowed down processor advancement to focus on other areas, and everyone pretty much accepts that this year's PC is basically the same as last years. Android will soon be like that. Meanwhile, people still notice the latest Macs and Mac focused events are still front-page news. In 5 years, Android will almost never make the news, just as Windows only appears in "Microsoft earnings disappoint..." type stories. The only Android coverage will be "Google profit still not growing, shareholders demand further attempts to monetize Android..."

The sadness I experienced reading your post is only supplanted by more sadness reading your post. In fact I know exactly what an analogy is since I looked it up to ensure spelling. What I can say is you didn't really understand the context of what you read. Mac and I weren't talking about the future of any industry. We were discussing the here and now. In your in depth analysis you forgot to include the phrase in my opinion. It is just that, an opinion. A bad one at that.

All of your analysis shows a lack of insight into the discussion in which you decided to enter. Basically you chose the wrong post to use in furthering your "bullish on Apple" narrative. There's off topic, and then there's off your rocker. Your post is defiantly the latter. Yes I know the word is definitely, but a large chunk of the internet types defiantly for some reason. Anywho, your future predictions have absolutely nothing to do with the discussion between me and newagemac so I'll let you tighten up that resume you're submitting to be an analyst. Please don't quit your day job.

OT: The fact still remains, MacRumors members are abso-freaking-lutely horrible at car analogies. Some are apparently pretty bad at reading comprehension as well.

 

[fertilized-egg]

Smartphone marketshare is rather meaningless when it consists of mostly low-end, low-margin devices that more or less replace feature phones and don’t get used much as a smartphone. It does little to attract most developers from releasing quality apps.

Exactly. I notice many here are ignoring why the marketshare about Apple is usually misguided: the general narrative for Apple in the past 10 years has been that unless they go for low end market with their products they'll be killed off soon, just like how Macs struggled. Yet the outcome has been that Apple's Mac division is thriving compared to the traditional PC makers and their phone marketshare is also very healthy.

Apple's marketshare isn't important by itself, it's how they are achieving the current marketshare that's important.

 

[zipa]

And the once-mighty Nokia is nowhere to be found on that chart...

It's Microsoft now.

 

[Dilster3k]

Great news, should increase with the 6 thanks to converters.