iOS and Android Combine for 96.3% Smartphone Market Share in Fourth Quarter

[Tubamajuba]

I love how the Apple fans in this thread felt the need to defend Apple's smaller percentage of market share when nobody was attacking it to begin with.

I love how the anti-Apple people felt the need to jump down the Apple fans throats because they felt like their precious Android was being bashed.

Chill out, people. Nothing to worry about- unless your name is John Chen, that is.

 

[Plutonius]

Based on that table, I think that the article should be titled "Android is heavily beating all others".

 

[Darrensmac08]

And that's what consumers care about, a company that makes a huge profit at their expense. I hope gas goes up to $5 a gallon too!

I care. I own Apple stock. My money has increased drastically.

 

[SHirsch999]

That is why this comparison doesn't really mean alot.

The comparison also doesn't mean a lot when the average consumer couldn't care less about them.

 

[manu chao]

That's rich. 19% of the share and yet to make Apple look better they combine Android's figures.

That's like saying between California and Rhode Island there's almost 40 million people.

For the app market it doesn't matter too much from how many vendors those Android phones come.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Based on that table, I think that the article should be titled "Android is heavily beating all others".

Beating how?

The Android OS is installed on more smartphone units being sold today... but is that where the story ends?

 

[brianvictor7]

I actually cringed when I saw the Blackberry numbers. How the mighty have fallen.

On the plus side, Apple is looking good!

 

[Heltik]

No surprise with Blackberry, but Microsoft must be very concerned... Perhaps these numbers had a lot to do with the great MS OS10 give away of 2015.

 

[BC2009]

Android has that big of a market share? everywhere I look I see iPhones now

Everywhere in first-world countries. I think in the USA, iPhone was over 50%. In Japan I think it had closer to 60% market share. I'm using an iPhone 5s and have been on the "S" upgrade cycle since the iPhone 3GS. I felt more like "everybody has the new iPhone but me" this year more than any other year. Everywhere I look it seems folks are using an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus -- many, many of them are folks I know who used to have Android phones.

Is this global or US? Guessing global.

Definitely global. Android does well first-world countries, but it does especially well in sub-$150 USD unsubsidized smartphone markets. Think about India, China and South-East Asia. Many people in these regions could not afford an iPhone. Many buy very cheap Android phones instead. You can't get iOS on such a cheap device. Even the 3-year-old iPhones which perform about as well as these cheap Android phones will cost more. Apple is not even trying to compete at those price points. Without competition from Apple, these markets belong to Android in a huge way, but I don't think Apple cares because....

What was the income of the Android Corp in the 4th quarter of 2014? How much profit did they make? How about the handset makers who used their OS? Understand, if they open source it, that's fine. Oh, but you don't get the whole package unless...

What percentage of Android Corp phones are actually smartphones, running the latest version?

According to Google's own numbers even their latest version which was targeted at running on low-end smartphones sold in India and China failed to put a dent in the overall Android OS adoption. So those smartphones being sold are by-and-large running an older version of Android. As far as profit goes, Apple took 93% of all smartphone profit. Samsung took about 8% or 9%, but it adds up to over 100% because the other folks broke even or lost money. Samsung sells low-end devices, but they make their money on the flagship smartphones. Those flagship smartphones got crushed last quarter by iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

 

[Mockenrue]

What was the income of the Android Corp in the 4th quarter of 2014? How much profit did they make? How about the handset makers who used their OS? Understand, if they open source it, that's fine. Oh, but you don't get the whole package unless...

What percentage of Android Corp phones are actually smartphones, running the latest version?

For many people, the question is not us vs. them. It's not about who is more profitable, because that doesn't affect my daily life. It's not about who is more fashionable or trendy.

Instead, it's about the app ecosystem. Market share brings developers and developers bring apps. As someone who has owned Apple and Android phones, I'm glad that both market shares are strong enough to keep them on par. Android and iOS both have their pluses and minuses, but the app experience is good for both because of market share.

As an AT&T owner, I don't care whether they are more profitable or trendy than Verizon, TMobile, Sprint, etc. I don't even care which one is better today or tomorrow, as long as my service is good and there is adequate competition to keep innovation up and costs down (e.g. the TMobile effect on pricing across the board). Likewise, as an iPhone owner, I'm rooting hard for Android's innovation and success.

 

[dampfnudel]

Wow, Blackberry down to just 0.4%. :O

Yeah, if you could go back in time 10 years and told people that BlackBerry's market share in 2014 would be 0.4% (after buying some APPL stock of course ), some/all of them would think you were nuts.

 

[tentales]

For many people, the question is not us vs. them. It's not about who is more profitable, because that doesn't affect my daily life. It's not about who is more fashionable or trendy.

Instead, it's about the app ecosystem. Market share brings developers and developers bring apps. As someone who has owned Apple and Android phones, I'm glad that both market shares are strong enough to keep them on par. Android and iOS both have their pluses and minuses, but the app experience is good for both because of market share.

Agree mostly here. However, for some to feel better about themselves and their choice of device, they need for others to loose. I'd prefer a wider market with more players. Imagine if the car industry was a 2 horse race, how boring that'd be.

While market share brings developers, it doesn't necessarily guarantee quality. I find the quality of iOS Apps these days inferior to those up to about iOS 6.
Quantity does not increase usability. The majority are full of ads or in-app purchases and games seem to dominate. I'm not much of a gamer, but take "Angry Birds" for example. The original was fantastic, now they're just milking it and the newest version even of the old game are full of crap ads.

It'd be better for the industry overall if Blackberry were to make a comeback and Windows smartphones to keep adding to the diversity.

 

[flyinmac]

Well if you want to be in the Apple ecosystem, it makes sense to have an iPhone. How else can you seamlessly integrate your MAC OS-X computers and your iPad, iPhone, Apple TV etc--that is the ecosystem and if you want that kind of integration, you need an iPhone. Not everyone wants to be part of the Apple ecosystem, but if you do, it makes sense to own an iPhone too.

I used to have an android phone and even a windows phone before that. Both worked quite well with syncing info between my older mac.

AppleTV works with windows computers.

There's really little need to make everything Apple. I've still got an old Windows 5 phone that I use as a means of remote controlling my Mac as a media center. Works fine.

I can even use it to fully operate the mac as a replacement keyboard and mouse if I want to.

In fact, it gives me more flexibility than I get with my iPhone. So, that's why I keep the old Windows phone around, because it better integrates with my Mac than the iPhone does.

Maybe there's a 3rd party App out there for ios that does this. I haven't bothered looking. But I know Apple's remote program for iOS is a joke by comparison. I have that on my iPhone, yet my Windows phone does all that and more with a Mac computer.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Market share brings developers and developers bring apps.

That's not entirely true in Apple's case.

The iPhone has NEVER had a commanding amount of market share... yet its app ecosystem has always been successful.

It sounds weird... but the platform that can barely hit 20% market share gets more attention from developers than the platform with 75% market share.

In short... market share doesn't necessarily bring developers and their apps.

 

[Dmunjal]

That's not entirely true in Apple's case.

The iPhone has NEVER had a commanding amount of market share... yet its app ecosystem has always been successful.

It sounds weird... but the platform that can barely hit 20% market share gets more attention from developers than the platform with 75% market share.

In short... market share doesn't necessarily bring developers and their apps.

Then where are all the apps for BlackBerry and Windows? Market share matters if it drops below a certain amount. Maybe 5-10%.

Plus, iOS did have a 2 year head start.

 

[tennisproha]

Well globally it's a different story. I guess you're from the US?

Ah thats right. Yup American here. Yeah globally that makes sense with emerging markets being Android's backbone.

 

[technosix]

I do wish Microsoft was more competitive and had a larger share of the market, yet I do have a very comprehensive view and understanding of why they don't.

The reason I feel this way is because I'm a proponent of variety and choices. The more the better. Four competitors would be even better.

Having just two, should one become overwhelmed and suddenly the other begins taking over, we all lose.

 

[inkswamp]

Can someone tell me why Windows imagines itself having a chance? lol

We Apple fans shouldn't be too cocky about this. Someone could have asked the same about Apple back in the late 90s. In fact, many were asking that.

 

[winston1236]

Agree mostly here. However, for some to feel better about themselves and their choice of device, they need for others to loose. I'd prefer a wider market with more players. Imagine if the car industry was a 2 horse race, how boring that'd be.

While market share brings developers, it doesn't necessarily guarantee quality. I find the quality of iOS Apps these days inferior to those up to about iOS 6.
Quantity does not increase usability. The majority are full of ads or in-app purchases and games seem to dominate. I'm not much of a gamer, but take "Angry Birds" for example. The original was fantastic, now they're just milking it and the newest version even of the old game are full of crap ads.

Thats really not platform specific. All mobile game makers have difficulty making money while not using disrupting advertising or in app upgrades. It's a work in progress given that nobody is willing to pay 60 bucks for a game like on consoles.

 

[Four oF NINE]

No its not. Far from it.

Competition is good. Seems like a lot of poster here will never realize that. I'd like to see a serious third player. MS will do. Seems there is quite a bit to differentiate the 3 most popular system. BB seems to want to provide a mix of all three systems, Tizen, Firefox OS, and the like seem like Android copy-cats, and other systems aren't even worth mentioning.

Those alternatives will never integrate as seamlessly as iPhone iOS if you have MacBooks, iPads, and Apple TVs

 

[Michael Scrip]

Market share matters if it drops below a certain amount. Maybe 5-10%.

iOS had plenty of developer support even when it only had 5% or 10%.

You're completely ignoring other factors... including installed base and customers who like to spend money on apps.

When the iPhone had only 10% market share... it also had a couple hundred million iPhones in circulation. And those customer loved buying apps.

That's why I said you can't rely on just the market share number.

Like I said... the iPhone never had a lot of market share... but it was always hugely successful.

Plus, iOS did have a 2 year head start.

The iOS App Store and the Android Market opened in the same year (2008)

But that hardly matters to developers today.

 

[JackieInCo]

Android has that big of a market share? everywhere I look I see iPhones now

I'm the only one at my job that has an iPhone and that is because I bought a 6+ this weekend. I usually use my Note 4 or Note Edge there.

I don't know anyone outside of work with an iPhone.

 

[apolloa]

And yet again we have the reality hit, that Android is crushing ALL competitors..

Yet no doubt people will go on about how much profit Apple makes. Still doesn't equal market share though.

If Apple actually reduced some prices to sensible levels they may actually increase the market share, but as it is Android has a much much bigger target audience I think.

 

[some1uDNTknow]

And yet again we have the reality hit, that Android is crushing ALL competitors..

Yet no doubt people will go on about how much profit Apple makes. Still doesn't equal market share though.

If Apple actually reduced some prices to sensible levels they may actually increase the market share, but as it is Android has a much much bigger target audience I think.

Yes, I think Apple should give more of an incentive for consumers to choose iOS over the others. They can certainly afford it, but I don't think reducing some prices would be ideal. Apple should instead make the base iDevice models 32Gb, then offer 64, 128 as the alternatives. I also wouldn't mind seeing an increase to the default iCloud storage (at least 15gb).

 

[Waxhead138]

And neither does Android, but if you had ever actually used it instead of listening to all the FUD on the internet, you would know this. But hey, let's not let actual facts get in the way of Android bashing.

The common error people make when associating Android w/ Bloat/Crapware is the rock solid fact that the carriers force feed all the carrier wanted garbage onto I'm guessing the majority of Android Handsets. I understand your point though, the stock Android functions serve their purpose without being garbage and are completely in line with the Android / Google Ecosystem.

That doesn't make it Android / Googles "fault" exactly, but Google does allow it to happen in almost every Android phone I've ever dealt with or read a review on. Google needs to make their money somewhere if they give away the OS though.

Edit: People should know the difference between bloatware and stock Android apps though, all the above being said.