Apple Regains Market Share in Some Countries with Strong iPhone 5s Sales

[IGregory]

The Big-Screen iPhone 6 will sell like hotcakes.

Not according to some of the 'nay sayers' on here.

 

[KdParker]

Look at Windows Phone go...

Windows share increased in every market.

Looks like they might finally be gaining some traction.

 

[Piggie]

Android is only able to go downhill from here.

We'll see Windows phones growing, Amazon phones gaining, and Apple continuing to sell more and more phones.

But Apple's marketshare is not going to dominate no matter what.

You can't be a premium brand and enjoy the majority marketshare position against lots of competitors. Premium implies higher cost, and higher cost is never going to have majority marketshare.

Apple could compete at the bottom in two seconds however. They only have to lower the price of the 4S for instance.

Why don't they? Simple, they don't want to be Dell Computer.

You still don't seem to be able to grasp that many people don't want an iPhone end off.
They don't see iOS and what it offers as premium.
They want to spend the same amount of money on a different phone, perhaps a Sony Z2 for example. For them such a phone is more premium.

Really, You all need to stop thinking that people only don't have an iPhone because they can't afford them. Lots don't want them, even at half the price.

 

[ghost of jobs]

choice is not good.

I stopped reading there....

 

[TouchMint.com]

Cool to see window again pretty much everywhere too.

 

[ghost of jobs]

Not really sure what this is all about!!
Is it iPhone supposed to sell more then all hundreds of models of Android devices? Because I don't know any single phone maker who sells more phones then Apple!

Cough... Samsung.. Cough... Maybe uve heard of them...

 

[kdarling]

Samsung outsells Apple about two to one in the smartphone segment however Samsung does sell a lot of junk that could just barely be called smartphones.

Even the cheapest $100 dual-SIM, 1GHz, Jelly Bean, tiny screened Samsung Galaxy Star, still gets good reviews from its users, who bought it because of the price.

Everything is relative, because we've come so far. It's like the difference between a $1,000 VCR when they first came out, and a $200 VCR years later. A $200 smartphone can now be quite nice.

As for Samsung in particular, they sold 86 million smartphones in the winter quarter, with revenue of about $28 billion. That's an average WHOLESALE (not retail) price of $325 per phone. That's not low end territory these days.

 

[ghost of jobs]

I'm sad about this. I wish Apple was losing market share faster so they would release another iphone line with a bigger screen sooner. Oh well.

Oh mate, you have negative feelings based on what effectively is a graph.. Oh boy... You get sad over the death of a pet, not sales figures in China. Man up brother!

 

[Mockenrue]

Apple will never catch up to "Android"

Curiously... you're comparing a single company to an entire platform.

There are simply too many Android manufacturers selling too many Android phones. It's a volume thing. So if there was an award for the platform that sells the most units... that award would go to Android... not Apple.

Apple's "single company" limiting factor is a self-imposed strategic decision. Fewer device and form factor options are a byproduct of that choice, which ultimately results in lower market share.

I don't see people saying, "you're comparing an entire platform to a single company" when Apple (constantly) points out Android's fragmentation - also a byproduct of their strategic choices.

Pick one or the other... we either compare them (including the baggage that comes with each company's strategic decisions), or we don't compare them. We shouldn't selectively point out negatives for one while dismissing them as unfair comparisons for the other.

 

[TallManNY]

Windows share increased in every market.

Looks like they might finally be gaining some traction.

Well they killed it on price. And it is a nice looking phone, in my opinion. But still that share is mighty small.

 

[Iconoclysm]

I'm still amazed no one here seems to GET IT.....

I know quite a few VERY clever people, in various industries. Clever people, with numbers you also like the tech.

They all have Android mobiles. Sony, HTC, Samsung etc. Top end models.
They laugh at the iPhone crowd.

They all see it as the dumbed down phone for Americans and those who don't really understand how to work proper things.

Like it or not, that's how they all see it.
Lock it down, Reduce customization, limit choices of models.

These things are not what they want.
Even where I myself work I know 3 people who have, for want of a better word "OutGrown" iPhones.

They had them, and over time got frustrated and wanted something they could have that exactly matched what they wanted.

Again, this is not me speaking, I'm passing on views. Deny them, sure, but it's real.

It's anecdotal...and so is how clever these people are.

 

[IJ Reilly]

It creates controversy and arguments on MacRumors.

I stand corrected!

 

[peterdevries]

That comparison doesn't make sense when we've got a $180 Moto G performing as well as a $450 iPhone 4s.

This is a great example of not understanding at all what most consumers value. It is not specs and performance, but value and experience.

The largest mobile phone-using demographic doesn't have a clue about specs and performance, they care about the look and quality of the hardware and the apps that are available (and the rest of the ecosystem). As long as Apple focuses on these things they will remain the biggest single performing force in the mobile space.

 

[numlock]

Even the cheapest $100 dual-SIM, 1GHz, Jelly Bean, tiny screened Samsung Galaxy Star, still gets good reviews from its users, who bought it because of the price.

Everything is relative, because we've come so far. It's like the difference between a $1,000 VCR when they first came out, and a $200 VCR years later. A $200 smartphone can now be quite nice.

As for Samsung in particular, they sold 86 million smartphones in the winter quarter, with revenue of about $28 billion. That's an average WHOLESALE (not retail) price of $325 per phone. That's not low end territory these days.

for some reason figures in that ballpark are considered cheap/low end/race to the bottom etc on this board. that amazes me. i dont know the average salary for people on this board but i think thats a good chunk of money and should net you a good device.

 

[IJ Reilly]

It's not really. It's only one parameter and in this case comparing Apples (!) to oranges. It's not really important to BMW that the market share of GM is higher. They might be interested in how they are doing compared to Lexus and Audi. Same here. How many 500-600 dollar Android phones are sold in the respective countries? That would be more relevant.

What counts overall is revenue in the specific market segment and how much synergy has been created with other products. Take me: I bought an iPhone because I sort of had to (with Blackberry no more). Then the wife got one as well. Then came the Apple desktop and two laptops (partially because I like the integration I'm getting, partially because the stuff is pretty nice, partially I really didn't want any Windows 8 machine and Linux is unfortunately not an option for what I do for the most part). So there. Few more devices to come and a family has spend $10K on new gear. Samsung will not sell more microwaves just because the market segment for phablets is picking up with poor people and gaming kids. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's kind of what it is. And that's why I believe Apple is making a mistake if they release two large new phones. And the "leaked" images look cheap and trashy.

They aren't "leaked" images, they are renderings based on speculation. When was the last time someone noodling around with Photoshop came up with something better than Apple's design, or even close to what they actually released?

But as you say, market share doesn't tell us much of anything. It might, some day, when the smart phone market becomes saturated, but that day seems to be a long way off.

 

[thelookingglass]

It doesn't make sense, and I'm surprised that with all of the conspiracy theorists out there who will pick apart anything Apple says or does, nobody takes the time to look at this glaringly obvious issue with the numbers.

Nevermind, I'm not surprised.

No, actually I think it makes perfect sense to break these numbers out by platform. This survey is not about manufacturer market share, but about PLATFORM market share. Even though iOS is a one-company platform, it is still nonetheless a platform. And in this war of platforms, or ecosystems, market share is very important. It's not the only metric, of course, but it's an important one. The market share of a platform partly determines the desire of developers to create apps for that platform.

 

[winston1236]

Actually, Android looks more and more like the '90s Windows. It was inspired by Apple, is generally cheaper and now dominates the market. And just as with that PC analogy, for many people iOS still offers a better experience.

Totally incorrect. Google has been simplifying their software interface for years, way before Apple hopped onto the trend Google started.

 

[numlock]

This is a great example of not understanding at all what most consumers value. It is not specs and performance, but value and experience.

The largest mobile phone-using demographic doesn't have a clue about specs and performance, they care about the look and quality of the hardware and the apps that are available (and the rest of the ecosystem). As long as Apple focuses on these things they will remain the biggest single performing force in the mobile space.

are you therefore saying that the 4s has at least 2-3 the level of experience and quality of apps compared to a moto g?

i would argue that apple has lost their focus on the above mentioned qualities. their level of treatment for users on older hardware and/or software is bordering on appalling.

 

[winston1236]

You still don't seem to be able to grasp that many people don't want an iPhone end off.
They don't see iOS and what it offers as premium.
They want to spend the same amount of money on a different phone, perhaps a Sony Z2 for example. For them such a phone is more premium.

Really, You all need to stop thinking that people only don't have an iPhone because they can't afford them. Lots don't want them, even at half the price.

Exactly, give that the flagship phones all have the same price it's clearly not price that determines the winners.

 

[BvizioN]

Cough... Samsung.. Cough... Maybe uve heard of them...

Yeah, I have! I am using S5 and fit gear right now.... so yes.
But didn't know they sell more phones then Apple.

 

[Rogifan]

The title of this story should be more like..

"Apple gets it's ass handed to them by Android"

or

"Elvis and iPhone are still King in Japan.. everywhere else.. just Elvis"

I really feel Apple has to drop an A-Bomb of a product on the industry.. and I don't mean a thinner iPhone with a bigger screen.. to stem the tide.

They need another game changer.

Like Apple got its ass handed to it by Windows? Market share isn't everything...

 

[rish]

Holy baloney Europe is a country! What the hell did they teach me at school, I thought Europe was a continent. I'm such a div.

 

[numlock]

Like Apple got its ass handed to it by Windows? Market share isn't everything...

thats true yet some love it when it suits them

https://www.google.is/search?q=wwdc...GuTt0gWT2YEI&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1884&bih=882

 

[BaldiMac]

thats true yet some love it when it suits them

https://www.google.is/search?q=wwdc...GuTt0gWT2YEI&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1884&bih=882

Again, context matters. There's nothing hypocritical about Apple posting market share numbers when they are in their favor. It means a lot more to be gaining market share when you also lead in profit share, developer support, accessory support, third-party integration, etc.

Having an 80% share means a lot less if you have none of those things.

 

[tongxinshe]

I wish there was some other way to illustrate smartphone market share.

Right now it's broken down by platform... which seems like a good idea on the surface. Some companies are the platform... in the case of Apple and Blackberry. And Windows Phone is primarily Nokia at this point.

But then there's "Android"

The problem is... any phone running a version of Android is counted the same. It doesn't matter if it's a $599 flagship like the Galaxy S5... or a $59 el-cheapo phone sold in a developing nation. They all get the same credit. There is no distinction between various levels of phones.

Many industries have specific classifications of products. The automobile industry is a prime example.

Nobody compares sales of luxury sedans to sales of econobox hatchbacks... do they? Of course not. There are many different segments of the automobile industry.

But in the smartphone industry... everything is lumped together under one segment. It just seems weird.

I'd love to see these charts broken down between "under $400" and "over $400"

Apple doesn't sell a phone below $400. You could say Apple has 0% of the "under $400" market.

And yet... Apple is compared to companies who only sell phones under $400

That doesn't make a lot of sense.

It makes total sense. You complain just because you don't understand the BIG difference between the vehicle industry and the smartphone industry. In the smartphone industry (or PC industry, or tablet industry), OS type matters the most, because the OS decides the software development environment which in turn decides the real capability of the devices.