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What good is having so many android smartphones out in the wild, if the majority of them are low-end devices, and the users are not interested in purchasing additional accessories such as smartwatches, or spend on apps?

Data to find the next big thing.

Purchasing hardware accessories and small apps is just a stopgap.
 
There is no link at all. You can have declining market share because OEMs continue to sell android smartphones at a faster rate than Apple sells iPhones, and still have a growing installed base because people are still buying iPhones, and selling older iPhones to help fund the purchase of these newer iPhones.

People need to stop thinking in terms of absolute market share, and start consider effective usage share. What good is having so many android smartphones out in the wild, if the majority of them are low-end devices, and the users are not interested in purchasing additional accessories such as smartwatches, or spend on apps?

Apple has more than enough users to sustain a thriving ecosystem at this point.


While you're not necessarily wrong on that market share isn't the be-all end all, and yes, Market share can go down while the market grows, and still be selling more devices.

But that also takes into consideration that the market itself is in growth state. As we transition to a mature market, the overall user base isn't growing at the same volumes that are being sold overall. This means the bulk of salles are repeat customers or switching customers. NOT new unfounded customers.

if you start losing market share in a mature market that isn't growing, than that means users are likely switching away from your platform and that something in your product, doesn't meet expectations, or price is too high.

The IDC numbers released recently indicate that 2018 saw less overall sales than 2017 accross the entire industry. This indicates that we're full out in a mature market and that the full growth market is over.
 
There is no link at all. You can have declining market share because OEMs continue to sell android smartphones at a faster rate than Apple sells iPhones, and still have a growing installed base because people are still buying iPhones, and selling older iPhones to help fund the purchase of these newer iPhones.

People need to stop thinking in terms of absolute market share, and start consider effective usage share. What good is having so many android smartphones out in the wild, if the majority of them are low-end devices, and the users are not interested in purchasing additional accessories such as smartwatches, or spend on apps?

Apple has more than enough users to sustain a thriving ecosystem at this point.
If market share of new devices declines, the average age of devices ages. How is someone buying a cheap 5 year old unsupported iPhone different to someone buying a cheap Android device. At least the "cheap" Android device has a warranty and up to date security :)
 
What good is having so many android smartphones out in the wild, if the majority of them are low-end devices, and the users are not interested in purchasing additional accessories such as smartwatches, or spend on apps?
Data to find the next big thing.

More like (collecting personal) data to sell to advertisers.


If market share of new devices declines, the average age of devices ages. How is someone buying a cheap 5 year old unsupported iPhone different to someone buying a cheap Android device. At least the "cheap" Android device has a warranty and up to date security :)

iOS 12 runs on many devices released five years ago.

Compare this to Android, where many vendors (hardware and service provider) do not provide updates five months later, much less five years. :eek:
 
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More like (collecting personal) data to sell to advertisers.




iOS 12 runs on many devices released five years ago.

Compare this to Android, where many vendors (hardware and service provider) do not provide updates five months later, much less five years. :eek:

The main point is that people buying 5 year old iPhones are looking for a cheap phone and not the type to pay into an ecosystem.
The soon to be released Moto G7 will way out perform old iPhones and cost around £150.
 
If market share continues to decline then eventually the installed base will also decline, as there won't be enough new devices to replace old, worn-out ones.

A shrinking user base would also be bad news for developers.
Not necessarily true.

The installed base grows when new users exceed leaving users. This occurs independently from market share gyrations.

iOS user base can increase even while iOS market share decreases. Conversely, iOS user base can decrease in the face of iOS market share increases.

There linked, but not directly.

To grow iOS user base, it's probably easier to do (or grows faster) when the market share is high, but it's not entirely necessary. As long as users don't leave and Apple gains new users (via switching and/or first time smartphone users), the user base grows.

Apple doesn't even need to grow the base to succeed. Just maintaining the base while keeping the "best customers" would be enough to keep developers on board ... note that I'm not a developer, so this is really just opinion.
 
Not surprised if reception is important.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/7xqtdg/iphone_slow_to_pick_up_service_on_the_nyc_subway/

iPhone slow to pick up service on the NYC subway, my Galaxy S8 has it immediately at each stop

So I ride the subway to work. I have an iPhone X, and a Galaxy S8. The iPhone X at most gets 4G service, and mostly NO service for the entire ride in, including on the bridge.

The Galaxy S8 has LTE service instantly at each stop and a functional data connection even in weak spots.

Am I doing something wrong with the iPhone? It's so frustrating that its barely functional on T-Mobile.
 
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Not necessarily true.

The installed base grows when new users exceed leaving users. This occurs independently from market share gyrations.

iOS user base can increase even while iOS market share decreases. Conversely, iOS user base can decrease in the face of iOS market share increases.

There linked, but not directly.

To grow iOS user base, it's probably easier to do (or grows faster) when the market share is high, but it's not entirely necessary. As long as users don't leave and Apple gains new users (via switching and/or first time smartphone users), the user base grows.

Apple doesn't even need to grow the base to succeed. Just maintaining the base while keeping the "best customers" would be enough to keep developers on board ... note that I'm not a developer, so this is really just opinion.
If new sales decline year on year, the average age of phones in the user base will increase. The OS user base may remain static, but there will be, sooner rather than later, users with 6, 7 and over year old, unsupported phones, assuming they are still working. Is this keeping the "best customers" ?
[doublepost=1549050411][/doublepost]A

And the advice given in the thread was

"When pulling into a subway stop, put the iPhone in Airplane Mode for a second and then back into normal mode. This forces the iPhone to look for a cellular signal and it will pick up the T-Mobile LTE signal quickly".

Nice functionality with premium phones /s
 
If new sales decline year on year, the average age of phones in the user base will increase. The OS user base may remain static, but there will be, sooner rather than later, users with 6, 7 and over year old, unsupported phones, assuming they are still working. Is this keeping the "best customers" ?
Well obviously in that scenario, it wouldn't be an ideal situation. You've cherry picked one such situation. But there are other scenarios where the iOS user base stays static.

What about a situation where Apple gains no new users, but sells 200,000,000 new iPhones a year. You'd have 80% of the user base on a 3 year old or newer phone. I'd say a 3 year old iPhone is decent enough for developers (again, I'm not a developer), but seems that you'd disagree (unless I read your "6, 7 and over year old" comment incorrectly.

In any case, Apple is working on new features to keep iOS and the iPhone fresh and useful. I feel that their move into Health is going to be a game changer. Adding more and more bio-sensors into devices are going to be a big selling point in the next few years.
 
If new sales decline year on year, the average age of phones in the user base will increase. The OS user base may remain static, but there will be, sooner rather than later, users with 6, 7 and over year old, unsupported phones, assuming they are still working. Is this keeping the "best customers" ?
These are still customers who will continue to subscribe to iCloud and Apple Music, use Apple Pay, and might still purchase additional accessories and apps. In the very least, they are not defecting to Android. That’s the advantage when you own the whole ecosystem. However you spend, money usually finds a way to flow back to Apple somehow.
 
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These are still customers who will continue to subscribe to iCloud and Apple Music, use Apple Pay, and might still purchase additional accessories and apps. In the very least, they are not defecting to Android. That’s the advantage when you own the whole ecosystem. However you spend, money usually finds a way to flow back to Apple somehow.
People who buy $100 android phones, since we are discussing hypothetical situations, probably won’t pump any money into the android ecosystem. Maybe use android pay. Selling $100 phones only gives google an advantage with the license fees. Not the phone manufacturer.
 
People who buy $100 android phones, since we are discussing hypothetical situations, probably won’t pump any money into the android ecosystem. Maybe use android pay. Selling $100 phones only gives google an advantage with the license fees. Not the phone manufacturer.

Google will presumably still get the user data in the very least. For the OEMs, that small margin they make on that upfront sale is pretty much all the money they will ever see from it.
 
Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end. A smart man will move to Samsung and Android IMMEDIATELY. Asking people to spend $1,500 YEARLY is insane. Steve never would have allowed this. Sure, he was greedy and an overrated salesman no better than Ballmer and A LOT less talented than Mr. Bill Gates, but he had some limits. Having a fashion designer like Ive and Dye in charge has brought havoc to Apple. Butterfly keyboard, ONE USB port, STILL NO BLU-RAY DRIVE. It's nothing but watch bands and emoji and social justice crap.

Here's what Apple needs to do: make an iPhone for $500. Swappable battery, SD card slot, NO CAMERA BUMP, headphone jack, super thin, super light, no stupid FaceID, have a chin bezel, stylus support.

All of those things you listed Apple should put in a phone sound just like a Android phone no pun intended. Face ID is the future of Apple, so why would they go backwards and incorporate Touch ID in their phones? They even added Face ID into the XR, which was their cheaper option with the X series design. I think Apple has been doing without the headphone jack and the chin bezel. If you don’t like the look of the X you could just stick with Android as you said a smart man would move to Android. A smart man would stick with an OS that is supported beyond 2 years coupled with great customer service. Nobody have to spend $1500 yearly. They could just upgrade every 2-3 years, like most people are doing now.

Believe me I have 2 Android products at home sitting in a drawer that haven’t been used in 2-3 years because they can’t get the latest software. One of them was free and the other was a waste of $350. That’s the last time I’ll spend $1 on an Android product.
 
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People who buy $100 android phones, since we are discussing hypothetical situations, probably won’t pump any money into the android ecosystem. Maybe use android pay. Selling $100 phones only gives google an advantage with the license fees. Not the phone manufacturer.
I’m being held to ransom over my gmail by google. If I don’t pay for google cloud storage after a few months it will say my drive space is full and I need to pay for more. So I pay £1.89 a month for 100GB of space that I don’t need. I only use it to continue to access my gmail account. I also pay for YouTube premium. That’s £11.99 a month for ad free YouTube and YouTube in the background. I also get google play music and YouTube music included. I don’t need them but I suppose I can use them with my google home minis.
 
Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end. A smart man will move to Samsung and Android IMMEDIATELY. Asking people to spend $1,500 YEARLY is insane. Steve never would have allowed this. Sure, he was greedy and an overrated salesman no better than Ballmer and A LOT less talented than Mr. Bill Gates, but he had some limits. Having a fashion designer like Ive and Dye in charge has brought havoc to Apple. Butterfly keyboard, ONE USB port, STILL NO BLU-RAY DRIVE. It's nothing but watch bands and emoji and social justice crap.

Here's what Apple needs to do: make an iPhone for $500. Swappable battery, SD card slot, NO CAMERA BUMP, headphone jack, super thin, super light, no stupid FaceID, have a chin bezel, stylus support.
I like that your solution is for Apple to copy what has clearly not been as successful for their Android brethren.
 
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I like that your solution is for Apple to copy what has clearly not been as successful for their Android brethren.
You mean like Samsung who actually sell more phones then Apple? But all smart ass comments aside if you really believe the reason iPhones sell so well with a big profit margin is due to the iPhone itself and its features then you need to dig a little deeper. Brand name is everything, Apple have excellent brand recognition and over the years have built a good name for themselves.
 
Mark my words, this is the beginning of the end. A smart man will move to Samsung and Android IMMEDIATELY. Asking people to spend $1,500 YEARLY is insane. Steve never would have allowed this. Sure, he was greedy and an overrated salesman no better than Ballmer and A LOT less talented than Mr. Bill Gates, but he had some limits. Having a fashion designer like Ive and Dye in charge has brought havoc to Apple. Butterfly keyboard, ONE USB port, STILL NO BLU-RAY DRIVE. It's nothing but watch bands and emoji and social justice crap.

Here's what Apple needs to do: make an iPhone for $500. Swappable battery, SD card slot, NO CAMERA BUMP, headphone jack, super thin, super light, no stupid FaceID, have a chin bezel, stylus support.
The same issues exist as they did in 2014 when I switched back to Apple.

No comparable ecosystem

No real tablet competitors

All of my TV shows and movies I’ve purchased can only be played in the Apple ecosystem

Windows computers suck

There still isn’t a watch as good as the Apple Watch

Android have really good phones. In some cases the hardware is better than the iPhone but it’s all about the overall package.
 
Repeat after me.

Market share is the means.

Profit is the end.
Repeat after me, im a consumer I don't give a crap about how much money a company makes. I'm not a shareholder, i want as little profit margin and as much value as possible!! What is it with Apple die-hards actually wanting to be charged a huge mark-up and seeing it as a sense of pride.
 
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Repeat after me, im a consumer I don't give a crap about how much money a company makes. I'm not a shareholder, i want as little profit margin and value as possible!!

Which is besides the point.

We are discussing which business move makes the sense (and which is clearly still paying off) for Apple.

That you don’t like that they are selling more expensive phones has nothing to do with the fact that Apple is still insanely profitable, and that Samsung’s strategy of flooding the market with phones of all price points hasn’t been anywhere near as successful.

Not to mention that not every phone Samsung sells meets all those requirements. They reportedly didn’t sell so many S10 units this year. This shows that the majority of consumers simply don’t care enough for features such as removable batteries and expandable storage to impact their purchasing decisions.
 
Which is besides the point.

We are discussing which business move makes the sense (and which is clearly still paying off) for Apple.

That you don’t like that they are selling more expensive phones has nothing to do with the fact that Apple is still insanely profitable, and that Samsung’s strategy of flooding the market with phones of all price points hasn’t been anywhere near as successful.

Not to mention that not every phone Samsung sells meets all those requirements. They reportedly didn’t sell so many S10 units this year. This shows that the majority of consumers simply don’t care enough for features such as removable batteries and expandable storage to impact their purchasing decisions.
The reason Apple is so successful and can charge so much for thier products is brand recognition. Apple have built a fantastic name for themselves over a number of years, to the point that they could sell most Apple die hards anything with an Apple logo on it.

Also i think you mean the S9 not the S10 which has not even been released yet.
 
Repeat after me, im a consumer I don't give a crap about how much money a company makes. I'm not a shareholder, i want as little profit margin and as much value as possible!!
As a non-shareholding consumer, the specific profit margin a company makes should be in the same category as how much money a company makes - - I don't understand your distinction there.

On the other hand, a consumer wanting as much value as possible from a product is indeed a desirable goal. I would argue that Apple provides the highest value amongst the current smartphone manufacturers, given its support of iOS and security updates for six full years on iPhones.
 
The reason Apple is so successful and can charge so much for thier products is brand recognition. Apple have built a fantastic name for themselves over a number of years, to the point that they could sell most Apple die hards anything with an Apple logo on it.

Also i think you mean the S9 not the S10 which has not even been released yet.
Apple is serving a way larger market now than just apple fans. Their iPhone installed base is now over 900 million. You can't possible tell me that every single one of them is a die-hard Apple user.

The alternative explanation is still the more plausible one - that for all the missteps and criticisms levelled at Apple, Apple continues to make great products (relative to the competition at any rate) which people enjoy using and more importantly, are willing to pay a premium for.

And I think with the recent focus on privacy, I am happier than ever to stay in the Apple ecosystem. At least I am using an OS that was not engineered to track every single aspect of my privacy right from the get go, and Apple shows that they are not afraid to rein in the big players like Facebook and Google when necessary. Google is clearly never going to police their own platform (or themselves) as strictly. I get a gated App Store, and an integrated ecosystem, and I like having an Apple store in my country where all the products are on display for me to browse through.

In addition, how many of those cheap smartphones which Samsung sells do you think Samsung will end up supporting? The 5s still in my drawer still got updated to iOS 12. Samsung can't even ensure their flagship phones get the latest OS on time.

The Apple brand is not there just for show. It symbolises the unique Apple user experience, which includes (but isn't limited to) what I just listed above, and I am more than happy to pay for these benefits. And enough people evidently thought so and voted with their wallets as well, allowing Apple to rake in 84 billion this quarter.

But yes, let's throw this all away and copy what is barely making the competition any profits.
 
Apple is serving a way larger market now than just apple fans. Their iPhone installed base is now over 900 million. You can't possible tell me that every single one of them is a die-hard Apple user.

The alternative explanation is still the more plausible one - that for all the missteps and criticisms levelled at Apple, Apple continues to make great products (relative to the competition at any rate) which people enjoy using and more importantly, are willing to pay a premium for.

And I think with the recent focus on privacy, I am happier than ever to stay in the Apple ecosystem. At least I am using an OS that was not engineered to track every single aspect of my privacy right from the get go, and Apple shows that they are not afraid to rein in the big players like Facebook and Google when necessary. Google is clearly never going to police their own platform (or themselves) as strictly. I get a gated App Store, and an integrated ecosystem, and I like having an Apple store in my country where all the products are on display for me to browse through.



The Apple brand is not there just for show. It symbolises the unique Apple user experience, which includes (but isn't limited to) what I just listed above, and I am more than happy to pay for these benefits. And enough people evidently thought so and voted with their wallets as well, allowing Apple to rake in 84 billion this quarter.

But yes, let's throw this all away and copy what is barely making the competition any profits.

Yes, the Apple brand has become quite the Status symbol. Ive lost count of the amount of times I hear people who have zero idea about technology try to tell me that Apple make the best products even in cases where it simply isn't true. Many people buy Apple products due to the Apple logo the days. A perfect example are AirPods, they have comparably horrible sound quality compared to most of the competition with no noise isolation and they look ridiculous, yet people buy them in droves. Its not to say that Apple does not make great products, they have made many products that are great over the years, the iPod, the first iPhone the 2015 MBP and the list goes on. They also have the selling point of the well integrated Ecosystem.

My point is if Apple released the Samsung S9 and Samsung released the iPhone X do you really think the amount of units sold and profit would be reversed? The answer is no, they wouldn't ;) Brand name is so important even if Apple does indeed make some great products.
 
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The same issues exist as they did in 2014 when I switched back to Apple.

No comparable ecosystem

No real tablet competitors

All of my TV shows and movies I’ve purchased can only be played in the Apple ecosystem

Windows computers suck

There still isn’t a watch as good as the Apple Watch

Android have really good phones. In some cases the hardware is better than the iPhone but it’s all about the overall package.
This is the issue android do great phones but there is no ecosystem on android...the tablets and smart watches are poor in comparison.
 
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