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Apple's Global Smartphone Share Slips as Chinese Rivals Surge
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Epic thought it could win their case also.I didn't say they were acting an in illegal monopolistic fashion or using monopoly power, just that they have a monopoly. Again, it's not illegal to be a monopoly, ever (in the US). It's illegal to use that status as an advantage to push out competitors or manipulate the market.
As of right now, the justice department thinks Apple is acting with illegal monopoly power as they are being sued for it. We'll see how it plays out in the courts.
Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets
The Justice Department, joined by 16 other state and district attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolization or attempted monopolization of smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.www.justice.gov
Apple is a rent seeking company due to their vendor lock-in strategy.
The EU needs to completely dismantle this faux empire.
maybe in global markets like US and europe but chinese brands are making phones interesting at last with far superior hardware.
I wish I had a buck every time this sentiment was uttered on MR.
Legally, it does. A Sherman-act illegal monopoly can be anything greater than or equal to 50% It's not illegal to be a monopoly.
The "one and only one company producing this product or service" doesn't apply.
Apple Intelligence doesn't matter enough to the be the death of Apple. It's a bolt-on "feature" that most care nothing about, and won't affect their standing in the market either way.
Problem just gets kicked down the road. E.g., if you can make a "call" from a tablet, or from a watch, or from your computer, why not count those in the total of all devices?
It's easy to see that Apple has far less than 50% of the market for all things that can make a call to a telephone number.
Maybe just replace the battery. My 14 Pro Max still has a healthy battery, and functions like new.
That's a nonresponsive argument that has nothing to do with the justice department's monopoly argument. How you make calls isn't even mentioned in their filing.
Here is the justice departments argument:
The specific accusations:
Surely this is a class action lawsuit on the way, if true. If mine will not allow charging more than once per day after two years I will return it under UK statutory purchase rights (which trumps a warranty by the way, which is why companies always have to say "statutory rights unaffected" when they offer feeble 1 year warranties).
"Statutory rights are the minimum rights guaranteed to customers governed by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The law stipulates a retailer is obliged to provide goods that are of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described."
If after only two years it stops recharging properly, any court (if it got that far) would rule in the customer's favour that it is not fit for purpose and did not last a reasonable amount of time. The failure to charge would be seen as a fault. Apple know that. Like most retailers, they also know the vast majority of customers do not.
This from the Apple UK website regarding their warranty:
CONSUMER LAW
The Apple One-Year Limited Warranty is a voluntary manufacturer’s warranty. It provides rights separate to rights provided by consumer law, including but not limited to those relating to non-conforming goods.
As such, the Apple One-Year Limited warranty benefits are in addition to, and not instead of, rights provided by consumer law
For at least 15 years everything has marked the death of Apple according to someone online.
Whether it be the removal of the optical drive or releasing a smartphone without a keyboard, most of these things ended up being common practice.
And your normal user doesn’t really care if it does the things it needs to do. Everyone thinks they share in someone’s individual tastes, but the majority of people I know who aren’t tech savvy and have a smartphone don’t care about specs. Clearly the market thinks so as well, or your cutting edge Chinese tech would be number one in the world.
That's funny. I suspect the overwhelming majority of Apple customers are not techies who hang out on tech forums. And couldn't care less about most of the items above; such as having a file system, side loading, etc, etc.
Apple knows who their market is. As evidenced by their 1+ Billion active and *repeat* customers.
Being a normal user and not caring is on those people that has nothing to do with tech brands offering more than Apple, google, Samsung. Politics is a big reason for why these Chinese brands aren’t big or available in key markets. People who love tech and want innovation buy these devices for that reason.
Just because average users don’t care doesn’t mean it’s not important to keep pushing tech forward.
We used to get an all new design every 2-3 years. Apple has given us the same phone for 5 years now. Who would not be bored by now? And no, Apple, giving us a changed camera layout with the 17's isn't considered an all new design. Look at how the 3 was so different from the 4 and 4s, and again how different from the 5 and 5s, and again how different from the 6 series. Samsung is just as guilty of the same staleness with their designs. Give us something noticeably different looking already (and no I am not talking about flip phones either).
Also, a lot of people have been struggling financially the last few years while smart phones keep going up in price. Not good.
I personally have been thinking of going back to Android for my next phone. I really hate the current design with the flat sides and sharp edges (I read all the time all over the internet and social media that many other people feel the same way). I would need something like the iphone X or 11 Pro design to keep me with iphone. I already decided that when I need new Bluetooth earbuds that I won't buy them from Apple so I can take them with me to Android if I go back to that.
Lastly, if you want working AI the Android phones are doing it so much better it seems.
Also, a lot of people have been struggling financially the last few years while smart phones keep going up in price. Not good.
I personally have been thinking of going back to Android for my next phone. I really hate the current design with the flat sides and sharp edges (I read all the time all over the internet and social media that many other people feel the same way). I would need something like the iphone X or 11 Pro design to keep me with iphone. I already decided that when I need new Bluetooth earbuds that I won't buy them from Apple so I can take them with me to Android if I go back to that.
Lastly, if you want working AI the Android phones are doing it so much better it seems.
This is not diversified in any commonly used definition of the term, most especially if one considers how many other of the revenue streams are related to and/or dependent upon iPhone ownership
"iPhone sales made up approximately 48.7 percent of Apple's total revenue in the fourth quarter of the company's fiscal year 2024"
I think the edict by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) banning government officials from using iPhones is hurting iPhone sales in China. Interestingly, many people outside of China do not like Chinese phones due to the strange software preinstalled on those phones.
Since the vast majority of new software features are US-only or English language only, or at least very limited globally (Apple Intelligence, many Siri features, Satellite phone, Maps improvements, many Apple Pay features, hell even the built in keyboard lacks mostly all features unless you use it in English), people outside the US haven't really been getting anything new for the past several years. Meanwhile Google has always done a great job with localizations, not ignoring even small nations and making sure that all their features work in most languages.
For example, why is there no swipe keyboard in Hungarian? This feature has been out for years in English and some other languages. Meanwhile Swiftkey has had it for more than 10 years while also supporting multiple languages at the same time.
If you're not in the US, using an iPhone feels like it's not officially supported in your country even though it is.
For example, why is there no swipe keyboard in Hungarian? This feature has been out for years in English and some other languages. Meanwhile Swiftkey has had it for more than 10 years while also supporting multiple languages at the same time.
If you're not in the US, using an iPhone feels like it's not officially supported in your country even though it is.
This isn't untrue though. Because Android devices all run the same apps and services the makers fight tooth and nail with hardware features to entice customers. Its not folding gimmicks either but simple things like more RAM than you'll ever need or 6000mah batteries. Android watches last for days and Apple measure their battery life in hours.
The point is that Apple have a monopoly on themselves which has led to the stagnation of the iPhone. Its a reliable, indifferent device and this is enough for most people. But imagine they put a 6000mah battery in the 17 Pro Max. Imagine the Apple Watch lasted 4 days between charges. Then ask yourself why they dont.